When Dawn Comes
by Kimra
Summary: [COMPLETE] Serena can’t remember what happened before dawn that morning. But things have changed, her world has been turned upside down, and nothing quite makes sense the way it used to.
1. One: Waking

This story is set to after episode 32 of the anime (The Tuxedo Melvin episode where Sailor Moon losses the scouts only Rainbow Crystal). Got it? Cool. I hope you enjoy.

Oh and for this part and all those proceeding it. I don't own Sailor Moon. Never have, probably never will.

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**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part I**

Serena shifted her weight, her body sinking deeper into the thick down mattress beneath her. With a sigh she curled small fingers around the edges of the woollen coverlet and drew it to just below her chin. Comfortable beyond words she let sleep capture her once more, absently noting the warmth resting against her back.

The beeping of her watch roused Serena from her comfortable sleep. It was a sound she was attuned too more so, even, then her morning alarm clock. Sleepishly her hand fumbled for the nightstand, squinting her eyes as she tried to regain focus. Her hand had knocked several items off the nightstand before she was clasping the Senshi watch tightly, she made a mental note to pick the things she'd knocked off latter, though she couldn't for the life of her figure out what they where.

She wiggled her body into a sitting position and flipped the watch open, pressing the button that flashed at her. She was a bit surprised to find Luna's face staring at her with one of her larger scowls.

"Where's the attack?" She asked sharply despite the groggy feeling that weighed her body down like lead. Luna raised an eyebrow at the words, an odd feat for a cat, but Luna managed to pull it off.

"There isn't an attack." Luna snapped back, obviously overcoming any surprise Serena's question had caused her. Serena didn't attempt to hide her yawn then, stretching her back and twisting her shoulders in a smooth motion. It did nothing to fight the exhaustion her body radiated with but did make her feel more relaxed, something she could afford if she didn't have to dash out of bed and fight battles, just yet. "The question-" Serena looked to her nightstand as the cat spoke, trying to find the time only to realise she must have knocked her clock off among other things. "-Serena, is-" Luna continued as Serena let lose another yawn, the cats nagging was beginning to tire her further. "-where are you?" Serena flipped the watch shut, trying to drown out the nagging voice, too tired to hear the words.

Too tired to even put the watch back she snuggled under the blankets a second time. Glancing out her window for the comforting sight of the moon she was disappointed that she couldn't see it. _That's odd._ She admitted to herself but let the exhaustion rule her movements as her eyes slid closed again. Her last conscious thought was when she tucked the incessantly beeping watch beneath the mattress not feeling up to what ever it was Luna wanted.

Light flickered against her closed eyelids drawing Serena from the pleasant dreams that had captivated her for most of the night. It was at that moment that she realised her head was throbbing fiercely, her mouth tasting bitter and dry, and her stomach feeling more then a little queasy, but it was the flickering light that bothered her. With a groan of annoyance she rolled onto her side, drawing the blanket with her to face away from the windows.

She licked her dry lips as she tried to burrow deeper into the bed to find the comfort she had been enveloped in before the cursed sun had woken her. She swallowed and wet her mouth, easily falling back into sleep and unconsciousness.

It was the hand that glided smoothly around her waist that snapped Serena's eyes open and plunged her mind into overdrive. Her body tensed at the contact as her mind passed through the simplest options for her. _Okay okay, where are **your** hand's Serena?_ But she could see them before her, still clutching the blanket, only now her knuckles where white and the grasp was unrelenting. _Stupid, that was a stupid idea. Maybe your at one of the girls._ Tentatively she surveyed her surroundings her eyes skimming over plain white washed walls, a plain wooden nightstand devastated of any objects, and several plants. She knew immediately that it wasn't one of the girls houses. _Okay. Don't panic. Just figure it out._ She told herself large eyes flicking hopefully for the slightest sign of where she was. But there was nothing in sight range, no pictures on the nightstand, no articles of clothing crumpled on the floor, not she realised with horror even her own clothes. It was that single thought that honed her into exactly what kind of situation she was in.

She felt it then, her nakedness, the mild soreness between her legs and in her belly, the feeling of warmth from a body lying if not directly next to hers close by. The strong hand stroked her waist in a strangely soothing motion and she wondered if the man was even awake. Her every thought begged that he not be, that she could escape before she had to deal with exactly what she knew had happened. _Don't panic._ She repeated with herself, her throbbing head refusing to allow her to think properly. She realised with acute fear that she couldn't remember where she had been the night before.

She could remember going to Molly's party, something of a dull occasion, and someone handing her a drink that had tasted bitter but with all courtesy she had drunk. _It better not be Melvin._ Serena screamed mentally, he had been there, gods he had been there, popping up at her elbow every second to compliment her dress, her shoes, her hair ties, her choice in snack foods. But the only thing she could remember clearly was the overwhelming need to kill the little twerp and put him out of his own misery. The possibility that it might be Melvin worked as a wonderful comparison when she felt the hand continue to sooth her hip.

There was too much tenderness in the touch, too much sensuality and hidden strength. She knew from that touch alone that it wasn't the school dweeb, and once again she was stuck attempting to figure out who's bed she was in. She didn't want to move, didn't dare to move in fear of waking who ever lay behind her. She needed control of the situation before she progressed, after all, it wasn't like it was going to go any further, she and whoever he was had gone as far as she knew they could.

"Hmm…." A male voice hummed behind her, causing her to shiver.

No defiantly not Melvin, the voice was far to deep. For a second she had a flash of the night before a low growling at the base of her ear sending her into more acute shivers. She shook the vague image and sound from her memory trying to devastate herself of it. The hand on her hip slipped around to the front of her bare belly, dangerously close to her lower regions. And although she had undoubtedly lost her virginity to this man she was not comfortable with the contact or even the idea of physical contact in such areas with anyone. She felt alert and aware and extremely uncomfortable. She decided as the man behind her was still asleep, to try and find her clothes before he woke. Just as much as the contact was unnerving she didn't want to imagine him seeing her naked… again.

_Just breath, you can do this._ She encouraged herself and her small fingers snaked in under the blankets and gently grasped his hand, pulling it away from her and dropping it to the side like hot coal, all the while moving as slowly as she could so as not to wake her bed companion. She found herself standing a step from the bed faster then she had expected, her heart was racing with uncertainty, she had never been in a situation like this before and she had no idea how to respond. _Okay, now find out who it is._ She ordered herself but her body refused to obey that one command. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was a need to delay the inevitable, she wasn't sure and couldn't tell, all she knew was her body would not turn to face him. _That one little thing Meatball brains, just take a peak. One glance is all it will take._ But still her body refused. When the man made a noise that singled he might be waking she did the only thing she could, she yanked the bedroom door open and dived into the hallway, completely naked and immediately hoping there was no one else home.


	2. Two: Apartment

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part II**

Serena breathed, her body pressing back against the door she had just lunged through, as she tired to regain control of her body. Something she felt would not be as easy to do as she wanted it to be. She clenched her eyes shut, her head tilted to the roof and pressed against the door. Her ears where alert for noise, any noise, but the only thing she could hear was her erratic heart pounding within her chest.

_Calm down._ She reminded herself, trying to listen beyond the thundering sound, only to find silence. For a moment she was worried she had somehow lost the ability to hear, but she scowled at herself for the thought. _It's just quite. It means there's no one else here, or at least not awake._ She forced herself to swallow the idea, allowing herself to believe it although her trembling body seemed to be ignoring her logical pleas.

It was some time, standing in the dark silence before she had the courage to open her eyes She almost expected someone to be standing before her smirking at her childish actions and was relieved to find she was still alone. A quick glance down the left and right of the corridor, revealed little to encourage her, to her left was dark and her right had the barest flickering of light. There was still no sign of where she was.

She decided to try the right. Heading towards light always seemed like the good idea. So as silently as she could she crept through the corridor, her ears picking up the tiny creaks the floor felt compelled to make as she progressed, but nothing else. The silence that encompassed her surroundings did little to assist frayed nerves and she found herself cursing every breath she took and every footfall for the noise they made.

Entering what she immediately recognised to be a lounge room of an apartment and finding it empty she began her search for her clothes. What her clothes would be doing in a lounge room she didn't want to think on, but she found them, scattered about the room and mingled with what was obviously a mans clothing. She ignored his clothes, as she quickly pulled her own on. Stiff and sore muscles protested the movements required to dress but they where promptly ignored as she continued.

She was glad at least that the clothes she pulled on where the ones she had been wearing the night before, she didn't want any more mystery's to pop into existence until she had dealt with this one.

When she was dressed in her knee length dark pink skirt, white tank top and light pink over shirt she looked about the room purposefully, determined to find out who's house she was in before she left. The weight of clothes on her body gave her an abnormal amount of courage, all though she did not feel a fraction more secure.

She strained in the gloom to see pictures or any identifiable objects and found her head just that little bit too dizzy to complete the task. With a groan she stumbled past the lounges and found the blinds pull string, yanking it fiercely and flooding the room with the blazing morning sun.

_Erg… Light. _Another groan escaped her lips, as she tried to shield her eyes, her head reeling from the abrupt change in lighting and she decided the first thing she had to do was find something for her pounding head. Then she could deal with the situation, then she could figure out what the situation was, more to the point, who it involved.

It was three steps back into the room, away from the curtains that her eyes happened to fall upon a clock blinking happily across the room for her. She stared at the numbers for a long time trying to figure out what was so important about them. _Am I meeting the girls? Maybe there's training._ She growled at herself, it sounded so wrong. _Lunch with Lita? No, that's not right… nice but not right. Meeting Raye for… Something?_ She gave a little laugh at the thought. _Maybe studying with Amy. No. We did that all yesterday for that exam t…_ Her mind seemed to fizzle to a halt, her eyes reading the numbers again and again to be certain. But every time she read the numbers, Eleven o'clock blared back at her. _For that exam…_ She found herself unable to move under the weight of the second horror of the morning. _For that exam… today._ Her heart stopped as the admittance rang through her head.

Her mother was going to kill her, her mother was going to know! Of course, Miss Haruna the busy body would call her house and ask why she wasn't at school. Her mother would never let her go anywhere again, Molly might even admit Serena hadn't stayed at her house last night as they had initially planned. Melvin would spread the gossip so quickly bush fires would look slow in comparison.

Frantically Serena searched for idea's anything to save her. _Keep it simple._ She told herself repetitively as she looked about the room. She didn't know what she was looking for, but ideas would have been the most helpful thing right then. She couldn't go to school, not this late, the damage had been done already. She needed sympathy. She needed… she needed to be sick.

An idea formed, the only one she could think of on such short notice. Get home immediately, that was the first step. Her mother had to think she was sick, had to think Serena hadn't gone to school because of the sickness. She would make the rest up as she went, get to Molly as quickly as she could and find out what she had told everyone else. _That works._ Serena told herself with determination, there was nothing else she could hope for as far as a plan went so she settled it. She needed to be home, and as fast a possible.

Her feet moved at a speed that she was accustomed to. She suddenly didn't care who's house it was, who's bed she had been in, all that mattered was that no one found out. Maybe she would have to tell Molly, her friend had a way of making her admit things like that. She stuffed her feet into her high heels, a brief thought that she should stop at Molly's to change was pushed away, she had no idea how she would get past Molly's mother and the risk was too great.

It was as her hand was reaching for the door nob that fate decided to intervene on her mad dash. The shrill beeping of her communicator made her heart stop and her body freeze. Awareness struck her and she crushed her eyes shut, gently touching at her wrist for the device in pathetic hope. But it wasn't there. At least that much she remembered, Luna's late night call. And she had foolishly ignored the cat, she had foolishly tucked the watch under the mattress to muffle it's sound.

_Oh god! Luna!_ The cat was going to kill her. Forget her mother, her mother would just make her feel bad if she ever discovered what had happened here. Luna… Luna would kill her, then she'd kill whoever he was. _Not that, I'd argue that._ She amended with venom, her mind reasoned if she couldn't remember it, something had been wrong with her the night before. And besides, she had just lost something, something she couldn't take back no matter what she did and that made her angry.

The beeping continued, rousing her from vengeful thoughts and she realised with fear that it seemed to be getting louder.

Her feet reacted to the fear, driving her back into the room she had woken in. She didn't look at him but to notice he seemed to still be asleep. She fell to the floor beside the bed, her hand lunging in beneath the mattress and feeling around franticly for the thing. Had it been anything else she would have left it to it's own devices but she could just see the others expressions if she lost the communicator.

She found it after only several more beeps and pulled it out in triumph. Her automatic reflexes kicking in as she flipped the lid open and pressed the button that flashed at her at a speed that seemed as agitated as the beeping had sounded.

Luna's face flickered onto the screen just as Serena realised what she had done. She saw the cat take a deep breath, her eyes furry filled and was shutting the lid just as the cats voice resonated from the machine.

"Serena Tsukino what do you thin-" And the voice was cut off with the small click of the communicator. Serena found herself trembling immediately, the volume of the stupid cat. The volume had been enough to wake the dead. She raised herself slowly from the ground where she had thrown herself to retrieve the communicator. Her eyes hesitantly inching over the top of the mattress, stealing herself to check on the sleeping figures state.

She wasn't prepared to lock eyes with a pair of highly alert dark blue eyes that where staring in her direction with what seemed surprise. She wanted to break the stare, blink, figure out who it was, but she couldn't look away from those eyes. She kept raising, hoping that as she stood he would look away or something else would happen. She was even praying for a klutz attack to break the contact because she could not remove her gaze, even if her life had depended on it she knew she wouldn't have looked away.

And all at once she realised she knew those eyes, the expression may have been alien, but the eyes she knew without a doubt better then her own eyes.

"Darien." She whispered in shock and fear, slowly backing towards the door, knowing this was the last place she wanted to be at that moment. His eyes locked on her an array of emotions flicking through their near black depths, none of which she recognised, none of which she understood.

_Stupid Communicator._ She growled mentally her back pressing against the wooden door. _Stupid Luna._ Her hands slowly felt around for the handle and gripped the metal nob. _Stupid Negaverse._ Then in a flurry of movement she had turned the handle, opened the door and propelled herself into the corridor. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid Serena._


	3. Three: Home

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part III**

Serena ran. It was probably the fastest running she had ever done in her life. Even as Sailor Moon running from a Youma she doubted her feet had carried her at such speeds. Her feet barely touched the ground as she pelted down _his_ hallway, wrenching _his_ door open and propelling herself out of _his_ apartment her feet moving faster then her thoughts.

That's why when she was furiously striking the button to summon the elevator her thoughts had not progressed beyond one single realisation.

_I slept with Darien._ It played on repeat, as she continued to jam her thumb into the down button her eyes flicking towards his slightly ajar door, terrified that he might follow her.

Gulping down the idea, glancing at the lights that indicated the lifts progress she decided the risk of waiting wasn't worth it, and fled down the corridor to the blaring green exit light. With the same speed and ferocity she had used on his door she yanked the fire stairs door open and propelled herself down the hundreds of grey concrete slabs.

_Breath._ She reminded herself and air was sucked in at an alarming rate. She couldn't tell when she had lost the ability to draw those breaths in without thinking about them, all she knew was now she needed that reminder. Another breath was drawn in as she tumbled to the bottom of the stairs.

_What if he got on the lift and his waiting for me in the foyer?_ She froze, her hands resting on the door, her ear pressed up against the solid surface. Her heart was pounding from the abrupt exercise and the indeterminable emotions pumping through her body at speeds beyond her imagination. _Why would he have bothered doing something like that?_ She found suddenly that the conflicting emotions had all somehow gained a voice for themselves and she was stuck, trying to decide which voice to listen to. She wanted to leave, now, get out as fast as she could, but she didn't want to… couldn't risk facing him. But then other parts of her took into play, the parts that somehow, despite everything wanted him to have chased after her, the parts that said if he did then it hadn't been such a mistake.

_Okay Serena._ She reminded herself, ear still straining for noise through the double insulated fire door. _Just take a breath and go, the more you delay the more chance that he'll be there._ Again she hesitated, then squashed the traitorous part of her mind that was begged her to wait just that little bit longer.

She wanted to run out of the stair well and make a mad dash to the exit but her body and mind, slightly more controlled now insisted that she at first see if there was anyone in the apartments foyer. So she slipped through the door, her eyes skimming past pot plants, across mirrors and through the shadowed corners, then alighting on the lift. The lights above it indicating it's progress upwards beyond the level she had been on.

A part of her broke at the realisation that there was nothing to detain her from casually walking out of the complex, a part of her, traitorous though it was fed her an unexplainable regret. Again she crushed the raw emotions and despite the solitude, she ran through and out of the foyer determined if nothing else to sway her mother away from a heart attack and prevent her possible disowning.

She got lost on the way home, not drastically so, but enough to detain her longer then she wanted. Every second wasted was an itch on raw nerves, a second closer to her mother finding out.

_Luna_, she resolved along the way, _will probably have to be told the truth_. And as little as that appealed to her it seemed the most likely way to keep the cat from telling the other Senshi, if the rat of a thing hadn't already.

But her mother. She would tell any lie to prevent seeing the shame only a mothers eyes could convey.

Arriving at her doorstep out of breath and a little haggard from her run Serena decided to compose herself before ringing the door bell. Of course her keys where at Molly's, at least she assumed they where, tucked safely in her overnight sack so she would have to face her mother before she even crossed the threshold.

She didn't catch her breath properly, figuring that a little breathlessness would add to the overall dramatic effect she needed to achieve. It helped, oddly enough, that this encounter terrified her, as if she suspected one look and her mother would know immediately what she had done. _Don't all mothers do that?_ Her skin was a dead white when she finally raised her hand to the door and knocked. She was afraid to use the bell, it would have felt oddly intrusive.

_Maybe this is a bad idea._ Serena cringed inwardly, knowing the chances of her plan failing, but unable to think of anything even slightly better.

Her mother didn't give her long to contemplate the merits or lack-there-of of her plan, because the door swung open to reveal the cheerful expression of her purple haired mother. It took less then a second for the smile to flatten into an undeterminable expression that scared Serena more then the rage she often glimpsed when bringing test papers home.

Decided her plan needed to be taken up a notch she forced her body out of the terrified lock of muscles and began to sway, just that little bit. She wondered how convincing she looked, as her mother began to open her mouth, over the first stages of unbelieving shock.

Serena made an uncomplimentary pathetic sound and made herself stumble forwards a bit. She wanted to catch the door frame before she went to far but the second she let herself go that little bit her throbbing head seemed to take orientation from her, and she stumbled head long into her mother. Had she been able to remove the chiming that ricocheted through her skull and focus her eyes she would have seen her mothers deadly expression shift into the perfectly natural "My daughter is dying, and I'm so ashamed because I was about to yell at her." expression. An expression Serena hardly ever got to see.

She did however feel her mother soothing her back and whispering calm reassurance to her. And she had enough sense when her mother began to lead her to the couch to make a few more pathetic noises and mumble something about her room. Her mother, somehow understanding helped her hobble up the stairs.

Serena was surprised her head was pulsating again. She must have done something horrible to it the night before, because she was finding the need for acting skills completely unnecessary, right then she felt like throwing up. A mumbled word about that and her mother had her in the bathroom hugging the toilet bowl all the while still muttering reassurance and holding her hair back. Serena surrendered to the inevitable, letting her stomach go and the ringing in her head seemed to ease that little bit when she was done.

Afterwards was hardly registered as her petite mother somehow got her into her room. It was a struggle convincing her mother that she was well enough to change on her own. But she _refused_, absolutely refused to allow her mother to see any evidence of her nights activated, and something told her there would probably be evidence. _But what would I know._ Serena conceded half asleep on her feet. She didn't bother to change, but managed to kick one shoe off before she curled in under her blankets. She was sure to pull the blankets up to below he chin so her clothes where concealed.

Complete exhaustion hit her as she snuggled into the bed trying to find that perfect spot desperately but not seeming to manage the feat. She resigned herself for a suitably comfortable spot on the bed, the perfect spot a bit to much for her foggy mind. And as her eyes closed the last thing she noticed were Luna's darkened blue eyes watching her intently from the windowsill.

_I don't think I want to wake up._ Was the last thought Serena had before sleep claimed her exhausted body.


	4. Four: Breaking Point

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part IV**

The acidic tang of vomit lying dormant at the back of her throat woke Serena. She vaulted out of bed the second her mind could register the flavour. There was an alarming screech from somewhere within her flying sheets and the soft thud which although she paid little attention to, had to signify Luna's presence. All apprehension towards their inevitable meeting was forgotten as she dove into the bathroom.

The flavour in her mouth drove her stomach into a repeat of it's earlier performance and she found herself for the second time that day clinging to the edge of the toilet bowl while she heaved her previous days meal out. She was mildly surprised there had been anything left after her first encounter with the toilet bowl that morning, but the thought didn't hold her for long.

"Serena, dear? Are you okay?" The near angelic voice of her mother carried up the stairs, smothered with concern.

Serena struggled for breath, to reply as calmly as she could.

"I'm fine mum." The flavour of vomit again made her recoil and she spat into the bowl with disgust.

"Are you sure dear?" The almost silent sound of a footfall on the stairs made Serena tremble a little. Her mind wasn't quite focused but warrior instincts told her she didn't want her mother to climb those stairs. With every bit of control she contained she breathed deeply and replied in her cheeriest voice.

"Yeah, Mum. Just…" She faltered. _Just what? Just vomiting? Just brushing my teeth to get rid of the flavour? No, more cheerful. Jumping about because I'm bored. No sounds like I'm not even a little sick._ She gnawed into her lower lip in deep concentration, her eyes falling onto the figure of a rumpled cat in the bathroom doorway.

"Just what dear?" Her mother's voice was filled with dubious uncertainty.

Serena managed a small wince at Luna's dark expression before she jumped back to the immediate problem. _Oh! I've got it!_ "Just having a shower mum. I feel all sticky!" Just a dash of her usual tracklessness and a little cheer and she sounded like she was on the road to recovery, but not quite there yet.

"Okay dear. I'm making Chicken Broth, so when your done call out and I'll bring it up for you."

_Okay so maybe there are advantages to losing your virginity and taking the day of school._ Immediately she scolded herself, embarrassed of the thought and ashamed to have allowed anything so low to have passed through her mind, even if it had been because of food.

It wasn't until she had heard her mother retreat back into the kitchen that her tense shoulder relaxed and her eyes fell back onto the black cat, registering it's presence and acknowledging what it meant. Carefully she pushed sticky strands of hair behind her ear, giving her a clear view of the feline. _Erk! I really do need a shower._ She cringed and wiped her fingers onto her shirt, some how her hair had gotten in the way of her vomiting, hardly surprising considering how long it was.

"How much did you drink?" Came Luna's clear voice.

It wasn't the first thing she was expecting to leave the cats mouth. She might have accepted a string of curses in some dialect she didn't understand, or a few scratches, but the calm rationality behind the question grounded her. In ways completely unexplainable to anyone who didn't know Luna, calm when Serena had erred was not a common thing, and it often meant she had progressed past raging mad, which was not something Serena cared to witness. But then she wasn't given a choice.

"Drink?" Serena repeated the word like it was foreign a bit unsure of what the cat meant. She knew what it meant, if anyone else was saying it, but Luna talking about alcohol seemed out of place. _Besides she's accusing me of being drunk!_ That little bit of realisation fuelled Serena into anger, but it dissolved before she got a chance to test it. She was still facing unknowable odds, she still had to convince the cat to keep her mouth shut, she still had to figure out what the hell had happened.

"Yes Serena." The cat's clipped voice continued, staring into Serena's face, expression set. "Just because I'm a cat, doesn't mean I don't know a hang over when I see one." For a second Luna looked a little more passive. "Though this seems a bit excessive even for a hangover." It was muttered.

Serena didn't hear any of the second half, her mind was caught on the first bit. _A hang over? That's ridiculous!_ "I didn't drink anything!" Serena retorted, her voice raised and reverberating against the tiled walls. _That I know of._ For the hundredth time that day her heart stopped mid beat then jumped back into rhythm. "That I know of." She repeated in a mumble of admittance. Her mind flashed back to that drink some boy at the party had handed her. _And you, Serena Klutzoid, drank it without a thought._ She felt oddly betrayed, if she could remember who the boy was she would have felt overwhelming anger and beaten him to a pulp, but she settled for betrayal. There had only been class mates at Molly's party, it hadn't been a random stranger, it had been someone she knew, purposefully getting her drunk.

_How did Darien come into it? He wasn't at the party, what would a collage student be doing at a fourteen years olds birthday party?_ Her head began to spin again.

She was still in a pile on the floor, one arm comfortingly wrapped around the toilet bowl, her hair matted and sweaty sticking to her face and arms, body pale and limbs trembling. Her short skirt ridding her hips, one high heel still tightly secure on her right foot, her shirt rumpled and blemished. Her eyes where dark with anger, planning revenge on a faceless, nameless enemy who had handed her a drink. Sure she would never get the chance to enact the vengeance, but it felt good to plan.

"That you know of?" Luna screeched, her hair prickling as her fast mind caught onto the implications that her charge had been tricked in some way.

"Serena honey?" Her mothers voice called up the stairs. Luna pressed to the floor in surprise.

"I tripped over Luna!" Serena shouted in response automatically. She pulled herself to her feet, flushing the toilet as she went, let her mother figure out how the sound fit into the scenario on her own, Serena didn't care that much. She picked the abashed cat up and stumbled on her one heeled shoe back to her room.

Inside she locked the door behind her, deposited Luna on the bed and opened her cupboard. Right then, she could think of nothing better then a shower. Forget who got her drunk, forget that she had slept with Darien, she just wanted to wash it all away.

"What happened?" Luna asked in false control. Serena glanced over her shoulder as she withdrew a pair of shorts and a top. She stared at them for a second in deep contemplation, ignoring the ball of angry fur that was glaring at her from her bed.

_Am I marked? How obvious is it going to be? I can't wear this. I need something else._ Her mind was a jumble, as it forgot the shower in a sudden realisation that she had to check how obvious it was. She didn't know, didn't know anything about situations like this. Crumpling onto a spot on the bed beside Luna she stared at her cupboard. Clothes for summer, short pants, tight tops, singlets, none of it seemed like it would be willing to cover any damages she might have obtained the previous night.

A little part, that traitorous part came back and tried to scold her for thinking Darien would hurt her. _Sure his a jerk, but his… he wouldn't… he just…_

Tiny tears began to form in the depths of her eyes. She couldn't hear Luna talking to her trying to coax her into talking. All she could do was stutter in her own mind, trying to defend him, ashamed for doing so, trying to tell herself it hadn't happened, desperately trying to dig up memories that had disappeared. But all of it felt so surreal, so wrong and out of place, like she was missing so much more from the whole equation.

And the problem, the thing that drew the tears down her checks until they where a silent flood that she tried to hide from Luna by burying her head in her hands, was she couldn't think of a single reason why he wouldn't. Why it was impossible, why it shouldn't have happened, why it couldn't have happened, except for the one. _Darien hates me._

And the thought broke her.


	5. Five: Admitance

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part V**

There was nothing to stop the tears from flooding down her face. No possible forgiveness for her own actions, although she had no idea what they where. All she knew was that he would hate her more now, that things would crumble, fall apart from what ever balance they had been hanging in. She couldn't understand why it hurt so much that even there petty fights would probably come screeching to a halt, or shift into something different, something less forgiving.

She had seen his surprise, maybe disgust, she couldn't say for certain. But there had been one emotion deep in his sea swept eyes that she knew without a doubt, regret. And she couldn't help but shudder at the memory of that expression.

Another sob escaped her trembling mouth, and her awareness shifted to the room around her. She was temporarily afraid her mother could hear her, would barge in and know. It was a stupid fear, but she couldn't overwhelm it. The soft weight of fur against her arm's and the tickle of a cold nose reminded her of company.

Serena looked down at her guardian and immediately thought off all the reactions Luna would have when she found out. She could see the disappointment and shame Luna would direct to her. But she wondered if anyone, even her constant companion could equal the sickening shame she felt burying itself in the pit of her stomach.

"It's okay. There's nothing wrong with drinking spiked drinks. It happens. I'm sorry for shouting at you this morning. I should have trusted you to get home on your own. I was just worried."

Tears slowed enough to hear the cat who had pressed her head in against her arm in an affectionately sweet manner.

"You had left the moon wand at home, and I went to give it to you, in case there was a battle. But you weren't there, you weren't at Molly's, and…" Luna wavered and Serena looked down into her cat's worried eyes. "And I didn't know where you where." Luna continued solemnly staring into her charges eyes and Serena saw the question her cat was refraining from asking.

Again she cracked, the small shield she had managed to build to listen to the cat shattered into a thousand pieces and she was crying into her hands again. She tried to not cry, but the more she fought it the louder the sobs became. She knew Luna was watching her, trying desperately to help her, to calm her down, and as the sound of Luna's distressed voice penetrated her foggy hearing Serena fought for control.

She thought she had it, control. She even had the words in her head, how to tell Luna, for surely Luna needed to- deserved to know. "I slept with Darien." She chocked it out, her voice breaking on his name and the tears rushed out again breaking down the small barrier of control she had erected. She felt like crying even when she realised how stupidly she had said it. She was sure, though she couldn't think how, she could have made herself sound less like a whore.

"What?" Luna screamed, her eyes bulging out. It wasn't the exact look Serena had been expecting, but then she hadn't been planing to shock the creature, just tell it. "What did you say?" Luna beg-demanded suddenly in a sharp but quite voice.

Serena chocked a bit, trying to fight the tears as the cat stared at her still. "I slept with Darien." She repeated drawing in a sharp breath of air to compliment the sobbing lack of it.

"I head that!" Luna shouted, agitation most evident in her voice. "B-but-" Serena felt the cat shifting her weight on the bed. "I mean- What did- When- Ho- how?" The cat managed to stutter out.

Serena didn't look at Luna at that moment, to ashamed to be able to make eye contact.

"I don't remember." She whispered, the first sentence she had managed to complete without her voice cracking since the conversation began.

"What?" Luna hissed, and Serena unconsciously shifted away from her.

"I-" Serena's voice left her once more, leaving her to sob a few times before she could continue. "I can remember him handing me a drink."

"Darien?" Luna hissed with such venom Serena was shocked and her response, however unreasonable it seemed to both of them was immediate.

"No! He- he wasn't even there! At the party. It was Molly's birthday. I meant that boy, I don't even remember who it was, someone from school I swear! Not Darien!" She was pleading, pleading his case and she didn't even know why, parts of her told her to let it go but unnameable parts leapt to his defence.

"Then how did you end up sleeping with him?" Luna demanded, her tail flicking like a whip, and Serena realised it wasn't because of her, it was what she was saying that was sending Luna into a rage.

"I don't know!" Serena cried angry, angry with herself and the situation. She was the Campion of Justice, she was meant to be responsible, not getting blind drunk and waking up in stranger's beds. "I swear. I just drank that stupid drink, and the next thing I know the communicators beeping and I was just so tired Luna! I just wanted to sleep, and I turned it off! I should have listened to you! Maybe it wouldn't have been too late, maybe that was before we…" She froze a little her voice catching, she couldn't say it. 'Made love' sounded so wrong for the situation, but anything else made her sound like more of a tramp then she felt like she was. "Before we, did anything." She managed to chock out, trying to ignore the consoling look Luna was giving her. "And then I woke up this morning and I found out! And I can't remember a thing! Not a thing." She paused, then whispered. "I'm not sure if I want to remember."

There was another pause. A pause that drew every string in the room to a tight line, a pause that made Serena's nerves pulsate with tension. And all that she could feel beyond the tension was the hot furnace of anger that radiated from the small black cat beside her.

"That fiend!" Luna screeched with pure anger, shattering the tension. And before Serena could do anything, before any response could be made the cat was jumping out of the window.

"No!" Serena shouted as she lunged after the cat, but all she could see was the black streak as it speed through the bushes. Her eye travelled the path of the cats exit carefully hoping, but she knew with an instinct akin to knowledge where the cat was heading.

"Serena! What's all the shouting about?" There was a pounding sound and Serena jerked herself back to stare at the closed door.

"What?" Serena asked the door, unbelieving, thoughts where racing through her head again and her mothers presence seemed too out of place.

"I heard shouting. And you weren't responding. Are you okay in there?" Her mother was beginning to sound a little worried and a little annoyed. Serena glanced down at herself. Still limping on one shoe, still dressed in the soiled and crumpled clothes she had come home in.

"I'm fine mum, I just had the radio on a bit loud." Funny how once you start lying they come so easily to you. Like a floodgate opened and the rest is as natural as gravity, or is it hydraulics?

"It didn't sound like music, honey are you sure you're okay? I brought some Chicken Broth up for you." It was the pleading voice trying to beg her access through the locked door.

"No thanks mum, I'm still not feeling very well, I don't think I could keep it down." Her hands were fumbling with her shoe, trying to wrench it off. She needed to change, before her mother managed to ween her way into the room. The shoe flung across the room with a crack.

"What was that dear?" Her mother called, still directly through the door.

"It was just umm…" She glanced for a second, and faltered. Funny how when you get used to the lies coming so easily they sometimes fail you completely. "What was what?" _Ohhh, way to go Serena._ She crinkled her face up in anticipation of the demand but nothing came. There was a soft sigh on the other side of the door but no explosion.

"I'll be down stairs if you want anything sweety, just call out." And the miracle of retreating footsteps had never sounded so appealing to her.

_Problem one. Downstairs._ Serena cheered for herself. _Problem two-_ Her eye jumped back to the windowsill but there was still no cat. Her eyes closed for just a second as she contemplated the options. _Shit._

She realised there was no time to change. The cat was heading for the arcade, the stupid level headed cat had just blown her top. And without contemplating the reason Serena knew she had to stop Luna. Of course there where several reasons to stop a talking cat when it was on a rampage but not one of them filtered to Serena at that moment, all she knew was it had to be stopped.

She yanked her draw open, scanning quickly for the beloved object and found the small pen. She lifted it above herself and clenched her eyes shut.

"Luna Pen Make Up. Make me look clean." And the magic swirled around her, engulfing her with the burning feeling of power and faded. She wondered when she glanced at herself if the pen knew more what she wanted then she did. She was in a pair of black jeans, with a dark pink long sleaved shirt over the top. She felt comfortable, and thankfully unexposed. But most importantly her face wasn't blotchy from crying and the vomit was no longer visible in her hair and on her clothes.

She didn't bother with a token pose before she slipped out of her window. Praying her mother didn't check on her while she was gone. And praying she could stop the cat before it did anything rash.


	6. Six: Arcade

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part VI**

Serena had an advantage over the cat as she made a mad dash to the arcade. She didn't have to worry about random cars not been able to see her over the bonnets, so she could take the roads with much less caution, though caution was still used. She didn't have to worry about house pets that where bigger and meaner then her, though she doubted with Luna in a rage anything would be stupid enough to cross her.

It were those little advantages that had her plunging through the arcade doors in a very short time. Her eyes grazed the café quickly, searching for signs of the feline but unable to see it. _Maybe I beat her._

"Hey Serena!" Lita's voice shouted across the arcade.

_Shit._ She hadn't had time to consider any of the draw backs to storming into the arcade. She hadn't even noticed it was after school hours. She glanced once more to try and find Luna, failed, and turned her eyes up to Lita. Little voices in her head chimed the need for an immediate retreat. She still wasn't composed, she couldn't face her friends, not yet, a real shower would have helped, but the stupid cat, she had dashed off on her own vendettas.

"Why weren't you at school today?" Lita demanded from her booth across the room, allowing everyone in the arcade to hear. Serena scanned under the benches, she was sure she wouldn't have gotten there before Luna, so where was she?

"You don't look ill." Amy casually observed. Serena looked up again, and took proper note of the group assembled in the booth. Amy was sitting in the far corner, though she was looking over her lowered textbook at Serena with a quizzical expression. Lita was lazing back into her chair, eyes hungry for a story that obviously had to be told, after all Serena never missed school, well not often anyway. Raye was-

Serena's breath caught her eyes skimming the body next to Raye's, dreading the moment of truth but unable to stop the progression they made across his body to his eyes. No she hadn't had time to think about the consequences of going to the arcade at all. Raye was standing by the booth, hanging off Darien's arm, barely paying attention to Serena as she batted her eyes pointlessly. It was pointless only because Darien's eyes were fixed on Serena.

"Oh, well." Serena began, feeling nervous and decidedly wrong under his intense gaze. She couldn't read it, though beyond the first glance she refused to meet his eyes again, his expression was as closed as it always was. "I, was a bit sick this morn-" Her head whipped around at the sudden eruption of hissing noises and fixed on the cat that was darting out from beneath one of the tables. "Luna!" Serena screeched sighting the cats assault. Her beautiful, dignified jet black cat was lunging, claws unsheathed straight for Darien.

_But what do I care?_ She demanded of herself and all attempts to stop the cat faded in her bitterness. She would intervene only if the cat was about to shout something in her rage, after all maybe he deserved to be savaged by her fuming guardian. She certainly felt resentment towards him at that moment. He looked too calm, too collected, even as the cat lunged at him.

She watched in slow motion as Luna was jerked out of the air before Darien. For a second she was confused, then her eyes flicked to where the hissing cat was being held at arm's length from Raye.

"What do you think you're doing Kitty Cat?" Raye demanded in her imperious voice. "Attacking my boyfriend?" The second line came out as a hiss, but everything in the arcade had stopped to witness the rabid cats attack so it travelled with crystal clarity through the complex to Serena.

Without a thought her eyes jumped to his, locking immediately. Worry, fear, betrayal, emotions she knew she couldn't hide from her expressions fluctuated with alarming speed. She had betrayed Raye and it felt like the worst of her mornings crimes. She had betrayed her best friend. Raye had been mooning over Darien for ages, she'd managed to get a date with him, probably more, Serena had always been loath to ask and had always blocked it out of her hearing when the priestess bragged.

Now she was staring into his eyes, his cold eyes that betrayed no emotions if he where feeling any and she was desperately searching for a reason to look away. It came oddly enough with the silence that had settled through the arcade. Serena wretched her eyes from his and looked about. The abrupt silence seemed wrong until her eyes once more came across her feline guardian who had stopped mid hiss, her eyes that little bit more dangerous but her body uncertain. 

"Oh gods!" Serena shouted and ran across the room, yanking Luna out of Raye's hold. All she knew was she had to keep Luna from the others until she'd gotten her sworn to secrecy. "Shit!" Serena shouted, not meaning for the word to come out but unable to take it back as it bounced through the arcade. Everyone who had ever met her stared with open shock. "What do you think your doing!" She hissed at the cat, abruptly aware of his closeness, she had breached the distance between them unthinkingly.

She had never been so acutely aware of anything in her life. The soft fragrance of roses drifting from him, the searing gaze settled on her averted face, the simple warmth his body radiated. She hated her betraying mind for noticing him. _Why can't I just ignore him?_ She demanded as she started to back away from him.

"I, I had to find her. I've been chasing her all afternoon." Her voice was getting weaker, the tears hiding behind magically induced brightness where threatening to fall, and not even the Luna Pen would hold them back.

He stepped forwards and she immediately recoiled. One foot slipped on the smooth floor in her rush and she released the cat to grab at the booths chair trying desperately not to hit the ground. A small terrified screech escaped her lips but she had herself under control in less then a second. She looked about at the crowd who were still paying attention to the scene.

With an 'ep' she realised he had taken another step closer. She wanted to recoil but her back was pressed against the side of the booth. It left her with two choices, even as her wonderful cat bravely sat in the gap between them. She could make a break for the door, but something told her she wouldn't get there, and from the way he had advanced she would have to pass him to get out, or she could sit down at the booth, leaving her open for further entrapment. However anything was better then being near him at that exact moment. So she slid into the spot opposite Amy. Luna quickly pounced onto the table next to Serena glaring bay fully at Darien, daring him to test her predatory skills.

"So," Lita began from her seat beside Amy "you took the day of school and chased Luna about?" Lita's eyebrow cocked in suspicion. "Was Molly's party that good huh?" The question drained the colour from Serena's face.

_Damn, whatever the Luna pens doing it's not doing it well enough._ Unconsciously her eyes flicked up to Darien and back to the table, trying to determine what his expression had been, but it didn't help, she couldn't even guess.

"Molly's party?" Raye asked brashly as she pulled into the bench next to Lita.

Serena felt the cords of inevitable drawing to snapping point, trying to keep her head from smacking into the table. Three girls on one side, one on the other, and a man still standing by the booth apparently paying attention to the conversation. There was no hope at all that he would go away. He had always made it his job to make her life hell. _Why would he stop now?_ She groaned at herself even as he slid into the space next to her.

Luna, being a lot more loveable to Serena then usual, made it extremely clear that if he didn't sit on the very edge of the bench chair she would tare him to shreds. Serena twisted her fingers into the cat's fur in gratitude.

"Your cat's almost as much of a danger as you are Meatball head." Darien drawled from his cautious seat by her side. There was a gap, large enough to fit one maybe two (small) people into but she still felt like she was far too close to him.

"Shut up creep." She hissed in reply, her eyes fixed on the Senshi across from her, who where fixated with Luna.

"So how'd the party go?" Lita asked surrendering her scrutiny of the guardian. The other two looked up at her remembering the conversation.

"Err… oh it was good. Pretty boring really." Serena gave a little laugh her fingers digging into Luna's fur a bit more for comfort. The expectant gazes of her friends told her she hadn't done the scene half as much justice as she usually would. She forced her mind into action, trying to recall every detail before that fateful drink. She could remember most of it, but she couldn't figure out what she would usually say.

"Where there any hot boys there?" Lita demanded after a long pause. Serena's eyes snapped up onto Lita's green ones quickly. She felt trapped.

"I don't know Lita. Is Melvin your type?" Serena jeered back harshly trying to prevent the conversation from happening. Lita broke into laughter, missing the animosity, Amy closed her book and Raye looked like she was thinking hard. "Gesh, come on!" Serena snapped, her eyes skimming to Darien. _Is he getting closer?_ Her heart hammered, she couldn't tell, it just felt like the distance was being breached, but Luna hadn't taken her eyes from him and Serena trusted the cat. "The only guys there where from school!" Lita's eyes sparkled with mischief. _Why doesn't he go away?_ Serena was trying to be normal, but with him, so close, and so many undetermined emotions she couldn't give the conversation the attention it needed to act like herself.

"But some of the guys at school are cute!" Lita cried with delight, leaning across the table to grab at Serena's shirt collar. Luna hissed and swiped her claws at Lita's arm in a reflexive instinct. Lita jerked back before damage could be done, a baffled look on her face. "Shesh Luna, what's up with you girl?" Lita rubbed her arm, where the claws would have landed, her eyes slitted a little as she stared at the cat.

Feigning innocence in a very cat like manner Luna gave a soft mew, and settled onto the table. Her eyes returned to Darien who seemed to be staring straight back at her.

"Hey everyone. What'll it be?" Andrew leaned into the booth and his eyes fell on the cat. "Err… isn't that a bit unhygienic guys?" He was used to the cat by now, but it didn't stop him from being a bit concerned when it took up residence on the table. After all, it was an eatery, and cats weren't exactly known for cleanliness.

"Yeah Luna!" Raye snapped. "Get off the table." She made a shooing motion towards the cat. Luna glared at the fire Senshi then jumped down onto the seat directly between her charge and the enemy.

"Receptive little thing isn't she?" Darien queried his eyes still fixed on the cat. Luna bared her teeth once more, no longer in the sight range of the other senshi. Protectively Serena scooped the cat onto her lap. She didn't think for a moment that Luna was going to do anything rash now, but there was a dark glint in Darien's eyes that made her fear for her friend.

"Leave her alone jerk." Serena hissed at him, still averting her eyes from him.

"Guys?" Andrew asked quickly trying to get the attention of everyone in the booth, and dismembering a possible fight before it could begin. "What do you want?" He flashed them all a bright smile. Lita sighed a little and Serena found herself completely unmoved.

_It's nerves. With him sitting there like that. How can I think of anything else?_ Serena fidgeted with the Luna pen not noticing Amy's eyes fixed on it in deep contemplation.

"Oh Andrew, can I have a chocolate milkshake, and some cherry pie?" Lita bashed her eyelids as best she could and was rewarded with a giant smile from Andrew.

"Sure." He replied calmly, scribbling something on his notepad. "Amy?"

"Nothing for me." Amy replied with a timid smile of her own.

"Just some tea." Raye interrupted before Andrew could ask. Eye's turned to Serena expectantly and she felt her stomach growl at the possibility of food.

"Uh… nothing for me thanks, I'm not very hungry." Serena knew there was no way around saying it, buying the food and just letting it sit there would have been just as much of a give away and this way she didn't have to pay for it.

"Are you dying Serena?" Raye demanded from her seat, though there was an honest look of worry in her eyes. Serena gritted her teeth a little in self agitation.

"No. I just woke up feeling sick." She growled almost under her breath. It was a war to keep her eyes from flicking to him, in a vein attempt to gage his reaction, but she managed. She did notice an immediate tensing in the air, but it did nothing to affect her.

"Won't be long." Andrew declared and disappeared from the booth.

"So give!" Lita shouted in excitement still obviously not deterred by Serena's lack of appetite, from the look in her eyes that had made her more intrigued.

Raye seemed a bit more interested now. "And why weren't we invited to this party?"

Serena stared at Raye for a moment, feverishly wishing the three had been able to come as well. It would have turned out differently then, she knew that much. Amy wouldn't have let her near a drink, Raye would have occupied every guy at the party's attention, and Lita would have stood over her shoulder like a private bodyguard.

"I was invited, but I needed to study more for today's test." Amy admitted a little sheepishly.

Lita groaned. "You passed a party over for study time?"

"But your in the class, weren't you invited?" Amy retorted, trying to take the focus off herself.

"Not everyone in the year got invited." Lita snapped with annoyance. "And I don't really know Molly that well." She added trying to sound less annoyed. Serena knew at least, she had always known. Molly was, like many other students, afraid of Lita, so she hadn't invited her.

"And you don't even go to our school." Serena stated bluntly with a little glare at her fiery friend. She immediately felt the worse for having glared at the friend she had most acutely betrayed. Raye flicked her hair absently and instead of retaliating smiled flirtatiously with Darien. Serena blocked the image out and turned back to Lita and Amy.

"So where there any cute guys there?" Lita's eyes had a mischief filled sparkle to them that worried Serena a little.

"Not unless you count Melvin as cute." Serena retorted. Raye, who had met the boy on occasions snickered at the idea. Amy looked a little ashamed of her friends but remained quite.

"Oh yeah?" The sparkle got brighter. "So where'd you get the hickey?" Lita pointed to the exposed part of Serena's neck in triumph her expression smug.

Serena's hand snapped to cover where she assumed Lita was pointing, her face drained of any colour. Her three friends where looking at her with predatory eyes, the man next to her was as undefinable as ever. She couldn't help her breathing quickening at the realisation that they had seen something she would have rather kept hidden for an eternity.

She could feel her friends beginning to close in on her, preparing to trap her. _How obvious is it? Are there marks?_ The question's returned, after all she didn't know anything, didn't know what kind of thing to look for. But she knew what a hicky was, and she needed to see exactly how obvious it was.

She lunged across the seat trying to push Darien out of her way. "Fucken move!" She shouted at him her voice breaking, it would take so little time for them to trap her completely, and niceties, especially to him where beyond her at that moment. He slipped from the seat less then a second after she had begun to push him, letting her dash past him, the cat quick on her trail.

The other girls watched surprised as the sound of the arcade toilets door locking sounded through the room. No one would have thought she even knew words like that, and her panic had been blaringly obvious.

Raye made a sound of disappointment as she threw herself back into the seat. "Way to go Darien." She didn't even look to see his expression.

"What?" He choked out.

"You let her get away, now we'll never hear about whoever he is." Raye snapped, a little agitated at the opportunity lost.

"We almost had her too." Lita muttered in equal disappointment.

"Next time it would be more strategically sound if Lita boxed her in… err sat next to her." Amy added a little airily, as if she had known Serena would break such a fast retreat.

"Should we wait for her?" Raye looked at the locked door sceptically.

"Nahh. We have a meeting this afternoon right?" Lita smiled, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she cracked her knuckles.


	7. Seven: Toilets

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part VII**

Serena lent in close to the mirror stretching her neck towards the cool surface as she looked at one of the many hickey's that where alarmingly visible on her neck. _Oh no, can't hide hickey's now can you?_ She glared at the Luna pen resting on the edge of the sink. Luna paced the bench before the mirror careful not to get in the way of Serena's inspection.

"What do you want to do?" The cat asked out of the blue, siting on the marble bench and curling her tail about her body. Serena looked blankly at the cat for a moment then sighed turning completely from her inspection as she tugged the collar of her shirt upwards.

"I want to go home before my mother breaks my door down. Go to sleep and wake up tomorrow, late for school without a memory of this entire event." She sighed wistfully her head thudding against the mirror surface in surrender. With another sigh she went to unlock the bathroom door.

"He'll be out there still." Luna warned casually and this time Serena's head struck against the door. She sighed in resignation.

"I'm not ready." She whispered into the wood all the while wondering how long she could lock herself in before they came and got her. "I just didn't want you to do anything rash." Serena turned clouded eyes to her guardian who looked back with sympathy.

"I'm sorry." Luna replied repentantly. "It's just when I realised what had happened, I just wanted to kill." The cats eyes darkened dangerously. "I still do." Luna added her tail flicking madly.

"Well don't okay?" Serena chided a little angrily before the cat would delve to far into thoughts of murder. She couldn't' help being a little angry, after all she was locking in the arcades dingy toilets with the man she most wanted to avoid somewhere on the other side of the barrier. "Let me figure this out. Then you can kill." Serena slumped to the floor, her back pressed against the solid door in reassurance that no one would intrude until she was ready to let them. She watched Luna with an imploring expression.

"What exactly do you have to figure out?" Luna asked, not unkindly, as she nimbly jumped to onto the tiles before Serena.

"I don't know exactly. I just need some time. To think. And stuff." She groaned at her own vagueness and slammed her palms against the tiles below her. "This is all that idiots fault! Why would he sleep with me anyway?" She didn't pause for responses nor did she raise her voice below a fierce whisper. "It's not like he likes me, its not like I'm pretty! His probably got hundreds of girls like Raye, ready to do anything for him." Anger flooded her body comfortably. It was easier to maintain the one pure emotion then allow the other conflicting ones to take hold. At least with the anger she knew what it was she was feeling. "Why couldn't she get drunk and sleep with him? She would have loved it! She would have pranced around all week bragging to everyone." She slumped again, her head burying into her trembling hands. _If it had been anyone else, it wouldn't be as bad. If it had been some stranger…_ And she knew, maybe just maybe she would have been able to convince herself that there had been some form of love between them. But with Darien, she knew too well, knew how pathetic she was in his eyes and she had no chance to even pretend her actions had merit.

A soft head butted against her elbow and Serena peaked through her fingers at her company. Luna's eyes spoke volumes, what they said was of little importance, there was trust, loyalty, love, care and protectiveness rolled so snugly into the expression she couldn't distinguish one from the other but she understood what it all meant.

She felt the tiniest lifting of her spirit and gave the cat a shaky smile. Her guardian's opinion of her had not changed and no matter what happened she had that stability to fall back on. It was the only comfort she could hope for and everything she needed at that very moment.

Her fragile smile faded. "Don't tell them, Luna?" She pleaded her head resting once more into her folded arms. She glanced out of the corner of her eye when Luna hesitated. "Just let me figure this out." She couldn't prevent the resigned hopelessness from her voice, nor the new round of tears from trickling.

"So long as it doesn't effect the scouts. I wont tell." Luna replied calmly. Serena nodded her head, it was the most she could expect from her guardian.

_I'll just have to make sure it doesn't effect the scouts._ Serena told herself sternly and a frustrated sigh escaped her lips.

"We should probably go home, before your mother notices." Luna suggested from her seat beside Serena. Serena tilted her head and twisted her neck so she could see the door handle. It seemed at that moment to be the doorway to hell, and she wasn't sure she had the strength to walk thought it.

_The question Serena is: Who do you fear more? Mother, or the Jerk._ It was an unanswerable question but it rang through her head, prompting her to make some form of a decision. "I don't want to go out there." Serena confided, though Luna already knew it, she felt the need to say it aloud. Her hand absently rubbed her neck, the cause of her immediate problem. _He did that_. She had no doubt, and it jarred at her that she couldn't at least remember it.

"Serena." Luna warned wirily, slipping ever so slightly back into her usual role of the nagging guardian.

Serena looked back at her cat, her eyes hazed with the tears that continued to threaten, she needed to get away, go home and sleep, brush her teeth and shower but maybe not in that order.

Luna surrendered to Serena's tired expression and looked about the room. "The windows probably big enough for you." Luna encouraged, admonishing herself at the same time for even suggesting it. The window however did look large enough for the petite Serena, and Serena was more then physically capable of lifting herself through it after battling Youma.

Serena's eyes lifted to the window with a spark of hope and she got up slowly. She didn't know what had gotten into her guardian, but she was extremely thankful for the possibility of escape without confrontation. She realised she was delaying the inevitable, but as she levered herself through and out of the window she felt relief swamp her. The cat followed her out of the toilets, neither caring that the female arcade customers would be without the use of the toilets for a while.

"I just need time." Serena repeated as she began for home.


	8. Eight: Sleepless

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part VIII**

Serena watched the blinking light of her clock as the seconds ticked by, her body was numb and sore. Her breaths came out even and regular, like someone in deep slumber which is how she wanted to appear. She could feel Luna, sitting on her desk watching her with alert eyes. _As if,_ Serena mused, _I'm going to do it again._ She felt a tiny stab of resentment for the cat thinking so little of her. _But then again. It's entirely your own fault._ She resisted the need to sigh at the thought, counting the seconds as they continued to tick. An hour till dawn. _And then what? Another one or two before you can wake up? Serena girl, give it up._ She let a sigh escape her lips that time, and felt the tensing of the air as Luna too heard it. Sleep was eluding her.

She had arrived home the day before, climbed into her window, managed to take a quick shower and brush her teeth without her mother noticing. She had thrown herself into bed, exhausted and sore, the clock hadn't even read seven. Luna had taken her guarding post at that very time, and had barely moved since then.

There had been a call from the scouts, asking where they where, but Luna had defused the conversation quickly and easily with her superior manner and stated bluntly neither of them where going. Serena had even heard Raye's snide "She's not still in the arcade toilets, is she." But it was beyond Serena's care. She had merely rolled over and tried for another comfortable position to sleep in.

But sleep it seemed had a personal vendetta against her that day, because no matter which way she rolled, no matter which angle she lay in, it didn't want anything to do with her. Somewhere as the hours had ticked by she had managed to doze, she couldn't be certain of that, and all that betrayed it was the sudden fluctuations of the clocks numbers, gaps of ten and fifteen minutes had managed to be strewn through her waking night.

At about midnight she had prayed for a Youma, anything to give her an excuse to stop trying to sleep. Nothing. The one night she wanted them the enemy had to take off.

Now she was waiting, somewhere close to ten hours of watching the clock, praying it would go faster, deeming how she had never known time could travel so slowly, and wishing her guardian a hundred miles away so she didn't have to pretend she was asleep. One hour to sun rise, another before she could get up and just pretend she was awake early.

Having spent the entire time awake she had had time to think a lot through, though she had no answers to any of her problems, nor did she know exactly what she was going to do, she knew one thing: She still needed time. And time she was going to give herself, this morning at least she could avoid the daily collision she had become oddly accustomed to. She planned, since her body refused to sleep to take advantage of it and be at school disgustingly early. What she would do there, she had no idea, but then she would even brave the boredom of school over a possible meeting with him.

Another minute ticked by 5:28, she was counting the second to keep her mind occupied, almost like counting sheep but a lot less hassle on her brains part.

Her eyes fluttered shut.

Someone was there. Warm air brushed across her face. A tense alertness humming through her flesh and bones.

Startled Serena's eyeshot open, her body jolting into an upright position. There was no one there. _Nothing._ Her eyes scanned the room to be certain, but there was nothing there. No cause for her minds oddity's. Luna's eyes had fixed on her, the expression blank but for the tiniest tinge of curiosity. Serena shook her head a little then lay back down, her eyes shifting to the clock blaring a bright 5:51 at her. _You where asleep._ She chided herself sternly as she closed her eyes and pretending to be asleep once more.

It felt like years before the light in her room shifted into something brighter. The sun peering in on her blanket covered body and making her shift in hot discomfort. _How do I sleep through this every other day?_ She demanded as she tried to find a cooler patch on her bed. It occurred to her after some time that Luna wasn't entirely stupid, bossy yes, but not entirely stupid. When that finally occurred to her she sat up and found the cat had made herself comfortable on the table but was still watching her.

"Giving up?" Luna asked, her voice strained with exhaustion. Serena nodded numbly, wondering how long the cat had been aware that she was awake.

"I need a shower." Serena mumbled and gathered her uniform, stumbling with it down the silent hallway and into the bathroom. She could hear the gentle snores of her brother, and wondered if a practical joke was beyond her physical capabilities at that moment. Deciding rather to just have the shower and let the opportunity slip by, she locked the bathroom door behind her.

The shower did little but remove the sticky sweet she had accumulated trying to fight the suns pull that morning. She was forced to be extremely careful as she washed herself down, being extremely tender in places she would rather not think about, with several bruises that left her questioning if she had been entirely willing when he had taken her. The thought sent tremors of disgusted uncertainty through her, and she refused to acknowledge them.

Stepping out of the shower, she dried herself down and stared into the full length mirror as she had the night before, pinning every abrasion bruise and hickey. The hickey's though some of them had been very impressive the day before where much less noticeable now, the bruises already beyond the blue stage and settling into black's and yellows, in less then two days she knew all but one or two of them would be gone. _One of the many benefits to being Sailor Moon._ She told herself with false cheer. The most likely bruise to last was on her back, just above her hip to the left and if she stretched her fingers out and rested her hand above it she would only just cover it.

That bruise worried her, it took a lot to bruise her, and she desperately wanted to know what had happened. But it was the dot bruises on her right wrist and left shoulder that worried her the most. She had been puzzled by them until she had run trembling fingers over them in a vain attempt figure out what had been there cause. The way her fingertips had rested on them perfectly had been all the explanation she had wanted.

Pushing thoughts away she pulled on her uniform, hating it excessively when she realised exactly how much of her flesh was visible. The hickey's, faded perhaps, where still quite obviously hickeys, and a multitude of them where visible down her neck and on her chest where the v of her of shirt was open. Besides that though, she was glad nothing was visible, the long sleaves concealing the marks on wrist and shoulder. The bruise on her back… _I'll just have to make sure I don't reach for anything._ She growled knowing how high the school shirt had a tendency to roam when not being careful.

She then began the painful process of trying to cover the marks up with makeup. She prayed her mother wouldn't notice for the millionth time. It took her time, and many layers of the stuff before she was certain nothing could be seen. For good measure she let her hair down, hoping it would, if nothing else, distract from her throat.

When she got back to her room, Serena found Luna curled up on her bed contentedly asleep. Jealousy bloomed for the cat. _She makes it look so simple._ Serena scolded angry that a task she had been attempting all night came to the cat so easily. She repressed the urge to throw something at the cat and instead completed her ensemble. Her red bow was tied and pinned down with her moon broach, and her communicator was strapped on.

With a final glance at her bedside clock Serena left her guardian and the safety of her room.


	9. Nine: School

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part IX**

Serena sat in class watching the back of Molly's head with intensity. She had arrived at school easily, disgustingly easily. The gates hadn't even been opened and she had been forced to sit and wait jumping at every pedestrian that passed her. Somehow afraid that it could have been Darien.

Molly turned around and grinned brightly at her, and Serena desperately tried to decipher the expression. She wanted to know exactly what it meant as if suspecting it had a deeper meaning. She was afraid her friend knew, but couldn't think how she would know, but then again she couldn't think how her friend wouldn't know.

"Miss Tsukino." Miss Haruna snapped from the front of the class, and Serena's searching gaze snapped onto the teacher. "Why where you away yesterday?"

A little hope swelled in Serena's chest that Molly had not gossiped about what ever had happened.

"I was sick miss." Serena replied as calmly as she could. She couldn't help that her heart had started a odd rhythm of uncertainty as she watched the teachers shifting expression.

"Convenient really? Don't you think?" Miss Haruna asked carefully, her hands shifting with papers on the desk, her eyes locked on the often errant student. Serena was completely at a lose to answer that question. She tried to think of why being sick would be convenient but could think of nothing, so she tried to decipher the teachers words. Obviously the teacher was not in a patient mood she continued with a snap. "I'd like to congratulate everyone who attempted the test yesterday."

Serena barely blinked at the teachers words, her mind registering that yes she had known there was an exam, and that no she didn't really care at that point. Lack of sleep did wonders for the amount you cared about things like school.

"And I'm in such a good mood I've decided anyone who sat the test has an instant pass!"

And that was her punishment. _It could be worse._ Serena rationalised, too tired and unstable to really care. There where squeaks about the room as the rest of the class registered they had, if nothing else, passed a test that had been extremely important to there grades.

Serena looked about the room for a second, licking her bottom lip in thought. Amy was sending her a sympathy look. Melvin was trying to beg the teacher for his proper mark, because of course he had known he had passed. She shuddered at the sight of him, mentally reminding herself that Darien wasn't the worst she could have done. Then pushing the thought away, disgusted with herself for it's existence once more.

She looked at her desk, her hands neatly folded on the table and considered absently that she should have started to protest by now. She would have any other day, but today it felt too trivial.

She looked up and met the teachers eyes, noticing the slight disappointment. The entire thing had been to bait her into tears of indignation after all. Serena knew her teacher that well at least. Others where starting to look at her, as if waiting for the explosion. Giving in with a sigh Serena began.

"But Miss Haruna, that's not fair!" _Sure there's nothing really to protest, but everyone knows she only passed everyone else so my failure could feel that much worse._ Serena gave another sigh and looked about, people still watched her expectantly. _Did she respond already?_ Serena glanced at the teacher and realised she had missed what ever come back the teacher had made. The smug look on Miss Haruna's face didn't stir a muscle. _I need sleep._ Serena groaned out loud at that. Sleep, her ally all her life had abandoned her when she most wanted to escape the realm of reality, it was just about right, everything else seemed to be falling apart. "What ever." Serena grumbled folding her arms onto the desk and resting her head in them. Her eyes however didn't even close to allow her the illusion of sleep.

Someone must have yelled at her while she sat there, or maybe the teacher had gotten the point when she had failed to respond to the baiting. But she sat there ignoring it, staring at nothing until the lunch bell rang and the class began to disembark from the room. Serena did the only thing her mind could think of, she threw her belongings into her bag and charged out of the room in pursuit of her red headed friend. She barely heard Lita calling out something about having too much lunch before she caught up with her friend.

"Molly!" She gasped and grabbed at the girls arm, pulling her from the conversation she had been in the midst of.

"Oh, Serena." Molly replied delightedly.

_How do I do this?_ Serena demanded of her own brain when she realised she hadn't planned what to do, just known what she wanted the outcome to be.

"Are you sitting with us for lunch?" Molly's delight seemed to double at the idea but Serena shook her head briskly.

"I was wondering if we could… talk?" Serena bit into her tongue feeling stupid. She had put just the right empyesis on the word that suddenly the girls around Molly where excusing themselves.

"Yeah sure." Molly chirped. "Can we stop at my locker?" Molly began her walk to the locker much more relaxed then the Serena that followed her.

_How do I ask? What did I do the other night? What did you tell the others? Do you even know what happened? No, no. None of that's right. Start simple, if something happened she knows she'll get to it._ She wracked her mind as they walked desperately trying to think of an attack plan.

"Hey great party the other night." Serena blurted out suddenly, feeling stupid for the abruptness of it but Molly being her usual happy self seemed not to notice it.

"Yeah…" Molly stopped and turned to face Serena her expression a little uncertain now. "Shame you couldn't stay for the night." Molly's expression was searching and Serena felt discomfort overpowering her thought process leaving her with a jumble of 'run away' thoughts and little else. Molly reconsidered something, turned and began for her locker once more. Serena was at a complete lose for a response and stood mutely as Molly pulled her overnight bag from the locker. "You left these." Molly added her eyes returning to Serena's searchingly.

Serena didn't want to say it, say she couldn't remember what happened. She would break down in tears or merely betray a weakness she would rather keep to herself, but she needed to know.

"So what did you tell everyone?" Serena asked abruptly, fearing her friends tendencies to gossiping.

"What?" Molly asked, looking blank, then an expression dawned and she smiled jokingly.

"I told them you go swept off your feet by some gorgeous guy in a secluded ally some time after midnight."

Serena didn't hear the joking tone at first, the colour from her face falling. But Molly's mirth filled giggles shook her into realisation.

"What's there to say?" Molly seemed agitated as she shoved the bag at Serena. "Justin took you home cause you weren't feeling very well."

"What's wrong?" Serena demanded, the words fell lifelessly past her in the face of her friends agitation.

"You didn't seem sick. I just thought you had a better offer. Like one of your new friends had decided to have a party on the same night and you didn't want to offend me. But then you didn't come yesterday… so I guess you where sick." Molly's expression shifted into apology. "And you left your bag, which you wouldn't have done if you where feeling well."

"Justin?" Serena murmured the name, her little brows tightening into a frown.

"Yeah, major hottie like him following you around the party like a lost puppy. I'm impressed. Though I didn't think you knew him very well, but then I haven't seen much of you lately." Molly's voice was growing weaker. Serena felt guilty, forgetting once more her own problems when she realised Molly was feeling left out again.

"I'm sorry Mol, I would have stayed, but I did feel really sick." She didn't want to lie she realised as the words left her mouth, rolling off her tongue to seal her to the lie until it would crumble. And the damage was done, and there would never be a way to reverse it. She should have trusted her best friend right then at that moment, but trust failed her when she needed it the most.

_Justin._ Her mind rolled the name around thoughtfully. He would be in their year, good looking by Molly's kindly standards left none of the male populace out, then again she had said he was a hottie, so she was looking for someone exceptional. Pride did not allow her to ask her friend who Justin was. _Besides that might tip her off._

"You coming for lunch?" Molly asked perkily but Serena shook her head.

"Not today, maybe tomorrow. Okay?" Serena pushed her friend a little in the right direction watching until the red head had gone before her back went up against the locker. Her eyes skimmed the corridor to find it empty and she pressed her head back against the cool metal eye fluttering shut with exhaustion.

A shaking hand pushed strands of loose hair behind her ear, then pulled back. Her heart rate increasing at the contact. The fingers lingering on the side of her check before they withdrew completely.

Her eyes fluttered open and travelled the corridor, her head not moving. _Nobody._ She told herself sternly calming the irregular heart beats in her chest. Her eyes closed without permission once more.

Tingling pressure pushed in against her lips sending electricity through her body in sharp jolts that left her nerves buzzing.

Serena's eyes snapped open sharply her head swinging form side to side as she stared down the silent corridor. Her hand shifted to cover her lip to guard it and hold the strange feeling in at the same time. She knew she was shaking, her body refusing any command she tried to take over it.

She had no time to contemplate the moment before the bell rang for class to resume. It hadn't felt that long at all but she stumbled back to class.


	10. Ten: Main Street

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part X**

Firm lips pressing in against hers, pushing her back into the wall with a force of passion that she had never experience before. She trembled in a thousand places but her hands where controlled, skimming over taut muscles, and clamping down in velvet soft hair. She could feel him strain against her, pressing her deeper into the wall, and she wondered desperately if the wall would hold.

_What the? _Serena gasped, her body jolting her into an upright position as her eyes flew about the room desperately. _Nobody. It was just a dream._ Her mind was jittery with confusion, and she checked again. But the only people in the room were herself and a sleeping cat.

She couldn't remember falling asleep, though a quickly glance at the clock told her she hadn't been asleep for more then an hour. _Hardly enough sleep to make up for last night._ Serena fell back onto the soft pillows, her eyes wide as she stared at the roof.

The shock of the moment, of the feelings still pumping through her body with alarming intensity kept her trembling fiercely. There was no possibility of more sleep that night.

_Serena get a grip._ She told herself repeatedly as the dream shifted through her mind, but it told her nothing. She still repeated it in her head, her body tensing at the images, confusion engulfing her. _This isn't helping._ She growled and threw her blankets across the room, not caring if it woke her guardian or anyone else in the house. She staggered out of her room and down the stairs heading directly for the kitchen and food.

She raided her fridge with all the impish intensions of a mid-night snack, only to realise as she stared at the gathered food that she still wasn't hungry.

"Why me?" She begged the ceiling feeling forlorn, she couldn't sleep to distract herself, she couldn't eat to distract herself and she couldn't concentrate enough to read her manga. "You want me to suffer don't you?" Slowly she began repacking the fridge, grumbling her disrespect to whatever gods existed.

Something in the air shifted, catching her attention and drawing a small frown across her brow. She focused on the sensation her eyes slitting as she waited patiently for it to make sense.

The shrill beeping of her communicator broke her attention and for the first time in a long time she grinned at the sound.

"Sanity saving Youma." She muttered as she took the stairs four at a time. It amazed her the sound never woke her family, it rang through the sleeping household resonating off silent walls.

It stopped before she reached the room but she didn't falter in her progression. Opening her door she was greeted with the sight of Luna waiting patiently on the bed, the communicator opened but no longer on.

Serena quirked a smile at the disgruntled cat and snatched her broach of the bed side table.

"Youma attack on Main Street." Luna said even as Serena raised the broach.

"Moon Prism Power." And the power engulfed her light flooding the room as the moon responded to her summons. The searing comfort of power tracing through her veins relaxed and distracted her from mortal concerns.

She did her pose, out of habit. But when she went to jump out of her window Luna stopped her.

"What?" Serena looked down at the cat curiously.

"The pen." Luna warned.

"It didn't work last time." Serena complained all the while grabbing the pen and the cat.

"Try something other then 'make me look clean'" Luna chided from her position in the crook of the girls arm. Serena glanced at the cat for a moment and nodded raising the pen even as she continued her run. "Put me down first!" Luna shouted indignant, and Serena released her, never faltering in her run.

"Luna pen, Make Up. Hide my bruises." _Are hickey's bruises?_ She had heard somewhere that they where a form of bruising.

The pens power poured over her and washed away, leaving her feeling and looking the same as far as she could tell. She stopped at a window, staring into the glass at her sailor clad form to try and see her neck, even with the sounds of battle ringing near by. It didn't look like she had any hickeys, and glancing at her exposed skin she could see no bruises.

"If it interferes in scout business!" Luna warned running up behind her and Serena didn't pause to process the words, she dived into the next street coming to a halt before a Youma that floated ten feet of the ground.

She only took a second to note it's stupid appearance before she was giving a speech. She marvelled at the skill it took to blurt out garbage at random, even when you weren't thinking about it. _Shame that'll never pass a test for me._ Was possibly the last coherent thought she had before the Youma decided to target her.

She dodged as best she could. Nothing in the past few days making her any more agile or any more capable of fighting. Her mind was at least fixed on the task with unrelenting focus. So maybe that made her a little smoother then usual, perhaps that gave her a bit more of an edge then she could have had, but none of the others noticed, and all she could feel was the pounding in her veins like something was going to happen and it had nothing to do with the Youma.

One lucky shoot from the green tinged floating creature and Serena was staring at a piece of… something… that was hurtling towards her.

For a moment she stood there, unresponsive to the projectile. _Tuxedo Mask will save me._ Was the thing that kept her calm. But as it continued towards her mind decided to un-focus from the fight to something she had not considered yet. _Maybe he knows._ Her body lurched at the idea, and the possibility that he would not save her because she had been unfaithful. She dodged with every bit of skill she could muster as the attack hurtled pasted her.

It took her a second to recover from the moment and out of the corner of her eye she could see the Youma's disbelief that she had managed to dodge, her friends too where looking at her a bit oddly.

She wanted to crumble under the realisation that Tuxedo Mask might not want her anymore, if he had ever wanted her, but at least before she had never done anything in particular to drive him away. _Your being silly, how would he know?_ Her sense demanded. _Maybe the same way he knows when there's a battle. The same way he always shows up in time to save me._ Inner battles where always annoying for her, especially when there was a fight she should have been concentrating on.

Something exploded against her, sending her flying into a building wall.

"Sailor Moon!" Lita's voice shot across the empty street with rage and tinges of concern. Serena shook her head managing to stand up from where she had been, her eyes a little unfocused from the collision. Her three friends, Amy, Raye, and Lita where battling the Youma with renewed intensity in their Scout forms Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter. Luna was staring at her warningly and Serena remembered the threat.

_I can't let them find out. Even if he knows, even if he's not going to save me anymore._ She wanted to cry again. She probably would have if Luna hadn't been staring at with a promise so blatant that Serena couldn't ignore what it meant. "One Youma, then you can worry about Tux Boy." Serena muttered to herself reassuringly and shook her arm a little to release tense knots that had formed when she wasn't paying attention.

She withdrew her tiara as the scouts continued to battle, focusing her attention on the Youma, ignoring all other things. This is what she had wanted the creature for in the first place. Watching it with animosity her expression creased in concentration.

The battle continued, with her poised on the outskirts, tiara in hand but not charged or moving. She let her friends continue to attack the creature, it wasn't there worst foe, there was no trouble dispatching it, but she feared the second it was gone reality would return to her and she didn't want that.

"Sailor Moon." Mars growled managing to pause and stare at Serena. "Anytime your ready." The scout of fire gritted her teeth a look of unrelenting annoyance flashing through her eyes.

With a sigh Serena drew the tiara back, charging it with her power and watching to be certain the other scouts weren't in the pathway of her attack.

"Moon," It burnt into her hand with it's power, as it always did. "Tiara," She spun on her heel, her friends watching her, her eyes focused on the creature. _Will I ever see him again?_ And she hesitated, giving the creature all the chance it needed, it threw an attack at her, a ball of something green, and possibly electrical raced her way. "Magic." Her voice was dead on the word, her usual flare impossible to mimic at that moment of depression. She hardly registered the fact that the attack aimed for her managed to dodge the tiara, but she did notice the grip around her waist.

She couldn't have ignored the arms that pulled her out of harms way had she tried, it pressed in against the bruise on her back, but fed her the powerful reassurance she had needed that he hadn't abandoned her.

"Tuxedo Mask!" She squeaked as she spun in his hold to face him. Barely a breath apart they stood until she realised exactly where she was and she blushed a furious red taking two steps back. He gave her a half smile, something she couldn't recall him doing before. It gave him the appearance of nervousness and it made her feel extremely odd. "You saved me." Her voice was weaker then she wanted it to be. She wanted to have the usual cheer she portrayed.

"Don't I always?" She could see the frown over his mask, his voice a little uncertain.

"Well you could have done it sooner." Mars snapped from across the street. "Before she hit the building and lost the few bits of sense she had in that ditzy head of hers."

Serena tried to feel indignant but it didn't happen, after all she knew it was true.

"Yeah Se… err Sailor Moon." Jupiter was bright red at her slip. "What's with you today?" Jupiter folded her arms across her chest staring at Serena with much less anger then Mars had.

"Is that the Luna Pen?" Mercury's voice piped in quickly. Serena glanced down to where she had clipped the pen onto her uniform and gripped it tightly. She looked up and met Mercury's frowning expression.

"So?" It came out with bitter anger something she knew she was not renowned for and her friends expressions all clouded over with uncertainty. "I'm going." Serena snapped at them and began her retreat from the confrontation, forgetting Tuxedo Mask in her desperation to be alone.

She didn't get to see three scouts turn predatory eyes on a meek looking cat or a shadow of a hero slipping into the darkness after her.

Serena stopped short two blocks from the fight, her neck tingling with awareness. She turned abruptly and came face to face with her saviour. She licked her lips out of nervousness a small frown playing on her forehead. She couldn't help but wonder if he knew, especially now, that he had followed her. He had never done anything like that before.

"I'm usually the first to leave." His smoky voice drawled, and she felt odd. They had never had many conversations, and those few they had where under situations of duress.

"Well I felt like a change." Serena replied firmly, glad she was still hidden under the Luna Pen's disguise, but afraid he could see through it. She tried not to appear nervous under his gaze but it didn't help that his expression was unreadable behind the mask. He turned his head form her.

"Did you?" The drawl was gone, the same emotionless and flat tone of Tuxedo Mask was back. She felt a little relief for that. The relief went away quickly as he stood there, looking as insecure as she felt.

"Yes." Then there was silence, a silence that stretched at all her nerves. She was desperate to know what he was thinking, what he knew but she held herself back. Any thing, one wrong word and he might figure it out. It was a chance, if he didn't know she refused to do anything to allow him to know. The guilt in the depth of her stomach was testing her ability to appear calm. "What's this about?" Serena chocked out when the weighed silence got too much for her.

His eyes moved back up to her face, a tiny frown obvious.

"Nothing." He went to walk away and she was overwhelmed with the fear that he would leave forever. Something was happening, she didn't know what it was, but this conversation held such importance and she couldn't understand why. Sure she knew nothing about him but she still didn't want him to leave.

"Wait!" She grabbed his arm, hard. The words where on her tongue, a hundred questions, a million apologies but nothing came out. He had turned back to face her his expression hidden in shadows and under the mask. She hated that mask, especially at times like this. "You didn't just follow me for _nothing._" Serena swallowed the words, wondering why she was dragging the conversation. Sure she had a crush on him, she was even willing to go as far as to say she loved him at times, but it didn't explain the need to finish what ever there conversation was about.

"You took a hit back there. I was just making sure you where okay." A lie, such a lie that even she could see through it but it didn't stop her from appreciating it.

"Yeah I'm fine." Serena replied smiling, for his sake if not her own. There was the briefest flicker of a smile on his lips before he turned once more and she let his arm go. "Thank you for rescuing me again, Tuxedo Mask." Serena called out as he disappeared into the darkness.


	11. Eleven: Meeting

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XI**

Fragments of dreams, that was how she was living her life as the days told on her. Bits and pieces of memory swimming back and forth in a taunt, unwilling to let her cling to them, unwilling to let her forget. None of them made sense all of them made her blush.

Her mind was dulled with lack of sleep, her body feeling queasy and empty. She had tried desperately, but her eyes would close and she would snuggle under the blankets and with all her might ignore everything around her, but sleep would not come. She had been forced to continue pretending, for Luna's sake.

School had been hell, absolutely mind boggling hell. Avoiding her friends was a task she hadn't contemplated as difficult before. They had proven themselves to be stubborn and interfering, traits she usually loved, but traits that where rarely set against her. Amy was keeping her distance, but her calculating eyes had never left Serena's form when they where in the same room.

And Justin? Who ever he was she still didn't know. She had assumed it would be easy to find someone in her year at her school, but then again with all the effort she had put into avoiding her friends there was little effort left in her body to hunt down people she didn't know.

_At least most the bruises have gone._ Serena rubbed her neck thoughtfully, that one spurt as Sailor Moon had done wonders for getting rid of the marks.

Distracted, and not entirely conscious Serena didn't see the danger she was in until she walked into someone's chest. Had she been running she would have fallen, had she even been walking at her usual pace she would have been on the pavement from the impact, but her dragging walk hardly had any momentum and she kept her ground perilously close to the other person.

She sighed in resignation knowing full well with the way fate had been dealing with her recently that there was little chance of it being anyone but the one person she was most desperate to avoid.

"Excuse me." Her voice was a monotone as she went to walk past him, her mind tumbling with self loathing. She knew inside she could have done a hundred things more to avoid him and she was suddenly wishing she had done all of them. He side stepped, stopped her retreat.

"Serena." It sounded like a greeting, nothing visibly out of synch in the way he said it, except that it was her name. Her body locked up at the use of her name on his tongue, it felt so wrong.

"Darien." She acknowledged refusing to look up at his face, and instead fixing her eyes to the left of him. The silence that followed was almost as awkward as the one she had experienced the night before with Tuxedo Mask.

"You've been avoiding me." He started.

"No I haven't." Serena snapped in response, searching for an escape. Three day's and she wasn't ready, she wondered if she ever would be.

"You've been going to school early." He added mockingly.

"How would you know?" She hissed in reply. It was easy to hate him, not for what had happened, she couldn't remember it to truly find hatred for the event, but for the mocking collage boy he usually was. He gave a little laugh that made her eyes snap up onto his face in fury.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow at her fierce expression. "You think a guy doesn't notice when his morning concussion's stop happening?" She was ready to explode in anger, she hadn't thought she was that angry with him, but she found it welling up inside her ready to burst.

Bitting into her check she pushed past him. "I think we're done." She growled trying to control rage that made her body shake.

"No we're not!" He growled grabbing her wrist and pulling her back to him. He barred her escape, his right hand gripping her waist.

She cried out in shock as his fingers dug into the tender flesh of her remaining bruise. Her head was dizzy and she felt herself slipping from the instant pain, her only support she didn't want to cling to but her hands acted without her permission gripping at his shirt with life threatening desperation. Her body curled into his away from his offending touch. Gasps escaped her lips as she fought the tears that where immediately streaming down her checks.

"Serena?" Darien demanded in surprise. His hands where being held away from her, like a thief being accosted by police, as if he realised it were those hands that had caused her pain. His expression was of shock and she realised her position.

Catching herself Serena jumped away from him only to find she was being barred from retreat again. This time one hand was wrapped tightly around her right upper arm, and the other her left. She struggled against the hold, she didn't want to do this, didn't want him to know she was in pain for whatever reason. His grip was like iron, and she wondered if he would bruise her again with that hold. _If he bruised you in the first place. Serena you idiot. Your making a scene._ Her own inner voice had her glancing around quickly to find several by-standers had stopped to watch the spectacle. No one was offering to help. _And there goes my faith in humanity._ She mocked a little hurt that they weren't interfering. Looking back at Darien though she could understand, his tall strong physique would probably scare of any potential saviours.

"Let me go." She gritted through her teeth. The instinct was to protect herself, and somehow keeping him from seeing the injury was an vital part of that protection. And keeping out of his hold was equally important.

"Hold still." He ordered. His grip was hardening as if he sensed her willingness to fight.

"Jerk, idiot, moron. Let me go right now!" She was demanding, her senses on over drive, as he pulled her into the circle of his left arm, pinning her to his chest. She thought to escape then, seemingly the most likely chance when cool fingers slipped beneath her school shirt hem. She gasped at the cool sensation on her bruise, insults dying in the depths of her throat. Her eyes threatened to close at the soft touch. Her fingers grasped at his shirt just above his belt on either side of his hip in an attempt to keep herself steady. Her breathing nearly stopped, then started again in tiny breaths she kept as quite as possible. And he ruined the sensations swimming through her by pressing those delicate fingers into her bruise once more.

She stifled another cry, digging her fingers into the tense muscles of his hip in retaliation, unable to think of anything better at that moment. She stared up into his eyes, willing to transfer all her anger in the expression and was immediately confused. The usually blank eyes where filled with shifting emotions again. And so surprised was she that when he spun her around and lifted the back of her shirt hem, enough to see the bruise, in one fluid motion she didn't think to react.

His sharp intake of breath had her jumping out of his grasp, her mind catching up with the moment. She was out of his arms reach and staring into his eyes once more. The fear she saw there grounded her and made tears threaten to break through her defences.

"My god." His breath was shaky as he stared at her eyes pleading but she didn't know what for. "Did I do that?" He asked it in a whisper that carried to her alone. She swallowed against the convulsive pain in her chest. "Serena." His voice usually bland voice was filled with pleading.

She didn't know what he was asking for still. _Does he want me to answer? Or is he testing if I can remember? Or is it something else. Something I've forgotten._ Her mind was in a panic. His eyes boring into her, begging for… something. She surrendered, tears cascading down her face.

"I." She broke eye contact, unable to face him. "I don't remember." It was a breeze of a whisper she managed before she was running again. Ignoring the pain her body feed her in protest. She wasn't ready, and that was all she knew.


	12. Twelve: Plans

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XII**

Serena continued to run. She had been doing a lot of that lately, and she knew it. It was strange how Darien could instil in her a sense of fear she had never felt before. It wasn't a fear for physical danger, something in him, despite everything radiated security. She hated him for that, for the fact that she was weak around him. And it was the weakness she was afraid off.

_You'd think a champion of justice could hold her own against the jerk._ Was the last thought she had before she felt warm fingers twine into the hair at the base of her neck. She jumped and spun staring behind her and knew she was alone. _This is insane, totally completely insane._ She just knew her mind was leaving her, but it hadn't told her where it was going and she was afraid to ask. _Get over it Serena._ She chided herself, but the images, vague as they where would not leave her alone.

It where those images, memories she guessed, that made her more afraid of him then anything else. It was strange to remember aspects of a night that was otherwise completely forgotten. And the feelings she got when those memories took hold of her were nothing like control. She could feel the frenzied emotions that had controlled and dominated her state of mind. The emotions also lingered, even the brief flickers left her on edge and susceptible.

Her communicator beeped breaking her from her thoughts. She was beginning to despise the sound.

Opening the lid she found Luna's button blinking back at her and stifled a groan. It took a moment to get control of her expression before she pressed the button and Luna's resigned face flickered onto the screen.

"Serena." A sigh of long suffering filtered from the cats mouth her red eyes dark. "Your late for the scout meeting at Raye's temple." A twitch at Luna's eye suggested she wanted to say something more or perhaps shout something. Serena repressed her own sigh, wishing the cat hadn't reminded her, she could have spent the weekend blissfully locked in her room and ignoring responsibility's.

"I know Luna." She managed calmly. Luna's expression calmed but her eyes hardened just a little.

"Serena, your beginning to worry me. And if your not here soon I'll have to tell them, because it is effecting your efforts as a scout. Even you aren't usually this late." Luna's expression was earnest and Serena nodded her head in response.

"I'll be there soon." She shut the watch her expression grim. She wished fiercely that she hadn't chosen Luna's shoulder to cry on, but then she couldn't think of any other shoulder that would have been any better. Besides Luna was loyal to her secret, except when involving the scouts. The only good thing about the threat was that Luna hadn't cracked yet. Serena was sure the scouts had been pestering her guardian mercilessly for information and clues but they obviously hadn't gotten anywhere.

Pushing thoughts aside Serena forced her body into a fast run, heading in a beeline for Raye's temple.

"The problem isn't that we lost the crystal, it's that Zoisite has it." Raye's voice thundered across the courtyard bringing Serena to a halt. She glanced around to see if anyone was there before continuing cautiously. She had never realised how loud there conversations could get. It was honestly surprising that no one had inadvertently overheard them over the last few months.

"I agree. We no longer have any control over the situation." Amy sounded slightly peeved, though she hid it well under a bland tone.

"Then we have to take control." Lita snapped sharply. Serena heard the distinct sound of something breaking and would have smiled if she hadn't been concerned by where the conversation was heading.

"Lita!" Raye's indignant voice shattered the tranquillity of the temple grounds again. Serena bit into the bottom of her lip as she turned the corner to face her three friends and guardian cat. Only the cats red eyes registered her presence.

Raye was scolding Lita was such ferocity that it would have been impossible for her to see anything else. Lita looked completely unaffected under the full weight of Raye's wrath and Amy was attempting desperately to calm the priestess. There was a broken… something… Serena couldn't exactly tell what it had been, but it had been wooden before Lita had obviously vented her frustrations on it.

A small pang of guilt shifted through Serena at the sight of Raye but she pushed it away, Luna would not accept even the slightest absent minded behaviour during the meeting, she knew.

"How do we take control?" Serena asked in a surprisingly weak voice. It took a few minutes for all three of her friends to turn and look at her, blinking in surprise. Obviously they hadn't been expecting her.

"Sorry?" Raye stared at her obviously having missed Serena's question.

"I said: How do we take control?" Serena's voice did not gain any strength the second time but she did feel more secure. There was a foreboding feeling settling into her body as she asked the question. She knew the situation as well as they did, that she hadn't spared a thought for it in the last week or so didn't mean she wasn't aware of it. Serena couldn't bring herself to stare Raye down at that moment, so instead she fixed her eyes on Amy, making the blue haired genius shift a little uncomfortably.

"Since…" Amy shifted again and looked around for help from the other two, they both seemed willing to let Amy explain. "Since all the crystals have been found and extracted from their carriers our priority is to obtain them. Right now we have no control over the fate of the Princess' Crystal."

"And we need that control!" Lita growled striking her left hand with her balled fist to emphasise the point.

"If the enemy were to obtain the Silver Imperium Crystal they would have the power to destroy a planet, maybe worse." Amy continued giving Lita a glare that suggested although she had not wanted to be the one explaining this she still didn't appreciate the interruption.

"So we need to get the Rainbow Crystals back?" Serena prompted her stomach twisting with feelings of nausea, she didn't think she was going to like where ever this meeting was going.

"Since the loss of our own crystal the enemy's only attacked once that we know of." Amy paused with a little frown and Serena was ready to defend her actions on the day she surrendered the crystal to Zoisite but Amy continued. "Though central registered a few power spikes the other night. That concerns me."

"What night?" Serena settled back against the temples elevated floor watching her friends sombrely.

"It wasn't any of us." Amy replied distantly, her eyes a little unfocused as she stared past Serena. "We think it might have been Tuxedo Mask, or an attack on him."

"Why would the Negeverse attack Tuxedo Mask." Serena demanded hotly, shifting her weight with discomfort.

"Because his the only person with something they want Meatball Head!" Raye shouted in frustrated disappointment. Serena froze at the name used against her, her nerves trembling, she almost felt the need to jump at Raye and hit her for reminding her of him. Instead she clenched her hands behind her back, squeezing her tension out by crushing one hand with the other.

"And his not equipped to protect the crystals from Zoisite." Amy continued her eyes focusing once more on Serena.

"His not about to ask for help." Serena snapped that sense of foreboding not leaving.

"Nor is he going to give up the crystals without a fight." Lita mumbled but Serena heard the words perfectly.

"Without a fight?" Serena demanded hotly realising exactly where the sense of foreboding had been leading her. "Your not suggesting we steal the crystals of Tuxedo Mask!" She felt indignant on his behalf, but more indignant that they had formed a plan like this without consulting her. Because from the looks of the three girls and cat, the idea was settled amongst them.

"Of our two opponents he is the weakest." Luna interjected, her voice rational where Amy's had wavered.

"But Zoisite has crystals too and… and we _know_ his the enemy." Serena pleaded.

"But his also the strongest of the two, and right now his not paying attention to us. To get his attention would be foolish when we can focus all our energies on getting Tuxedo Mask's crystals." Raye flicked her hair behind her shoulder almost a sign of disapproval for Serena in its own way. It hurt so much more then usual, and Serena understood why though she ignored the guilt, Luna was still watching her intently.

"But…" She faltered uncertain trying to form the words that where failing her. "But Zoisite attacked us the other night!" Serena snapped when she could get her mind around the words.

"No. Lita stumbled across the Youma by accident. It wasn't a focused attack. More like the beginning when the Youma's where just there to steal energy." Raye continued, she was the best equipped to argue Serena down and they all seemed to understand it.

"So there stealing energy?" Serena demanded, willing to take the conversation away from her rescuer. She owed him that much, after all the betrayal she had already been a part of.

"It's possible there gathering energy for when they attack Tuxedo Mask and attempt to steal his crystals." Amy admitted over the raised voices of Serena and Raye. Serena couldn't even remember beginning to shout, but it had obviously happened.

"Which is why we have to get them." Raye proclaimed as if it settled everything.

"But he protects us! He protects me! Why do you all want to attack him suddenly?" Serena's hands clenched and unclenched against each other trying to read her friends eyes. Raye looked determined, Amy studious, Lita looked almost apologetic but Luna's disappointed expression hurt the most.

"He never said he wasn't our enemy Serena." Luna whispered, proving her eyes didn't show half the emotions she was feeling because her voice was also apologetic. "And in the case of the Rainbow Crystals we must accept that there, at least, we are enemy's. As the guardians of the Princess we are more capable of protecting the crystals then he is. And it is our duty, where we still have no idea why he has any interest in them." Luna sighed and looked at the four scouts. "We must get the crystals from him, no matter what your personal feelings are." Luna nodded her head, enforcing the decision on herself and the others.

"Fine!" Serena shouted, unable to control the anger. Nothing had been going right since she had given the crystal over to Zoisite two weeks before. The scouts had lost trust in her, then Molly had, had her birthday party, Tuxedo Mask had been acting strangely around her after that one battle, avoiding Darien was become a harder task then fighting Youma, her hounding friends had given her no peace when near her and Luna was obviously slowly regretting her promise of secrecy. And now? Now they wanted to attack her protector for a couple of crystals that belonged to some moon Princess who was obviously never going to show up. "And how do you plan on finding him?" She demanded staring at them through slitted eyes.

"That's easy, he always shows up when your in danger." Raye muttered. Serena suddenly became very worried about her friends sanity and went to back away from them. "So the next time there's an attack we'll just jump him." Raye continued oblivious to Serena's wide eyes.

"Your going to use the fact that he saves my life against him?" Serena demanded incredulously her back was straight with indignation. She was slowly forming her own plan of simply not showing up to the next battle when she found Luna's eyes locked on her.

"As the leader of the Scouts I expect you to understand the necessity of recovering the Rainbow Crystals. Your duties before all else Serena." Luna's eyes bored into her, there was no hiding meaning there was a demand that she pay attention for the first time in her life to the true demands begin a scout placed on you. Serena tried to break eye contact so she didn't have to surrender but her head wouldn't move until she lowered it in submission. It was her duty, and despite her emotions, she would do as she had to. She would prove why she was the leader, but she would be damned if she did it there way.


	13. Thirteen: Crystals

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XIII**

Serena, Sailor Moon, whatever name fit the costume at the time flipped back from the energy burst directed at her with a level of co-ordination she rarely displayed. Right then of course, Sailor Moon was the name to fit the costume. She barely spared a glance for her transformed friends, knowing there expression wouldn't be congratulatory, not even close.

Another attack was thrown at her and she dodged to the right disappearing behind one of the many trees that dotted the parks landscape. Her breathing was haggard as she leant her head back against the trees surprisingly soft bark. She wouldn't be able to keep the pace up, and she knew it. That her friends where being exceptionally lax in the battle wasn't helping.

Obviously they had realised she would not feign injury or danger, so they where leaving her to fend for herself more then usual. She didn't know why they bothered, no matter how she tried in every other battle they had, there had always been that perfect moment for him to save her.

"Jupiter, Supreme Thunder!" The sound of thunder roared through the park in compliment to Lita's voice as her attack lit up the strangely normal looking Youma they faced.

_Sure normal._ Serena bit in annoyance. _If you ignore the blasts of energy it keeps throwing at me from nowhere._ As was typical for the Youma, it seemed to know to focus on Serena. She wondered if it was an inbuilt defence system, something like 'kill the weakest first', because she couldn't think of any other reason they favoured her with their attacks.

"Mars, Fire Soul." The roar of flames brushed close by and the sound of a screaming woman followed. Serena swallowed down at the sound. _Screaming Youma, get it together Serena._

"Sailor Moon?" Lita called from the clearing the battle had inadvertently ended up in. Serena breathed deeply wondering if she should respond. It was true they weren't letting her get killed, they had deflected the larger attack from her as they always did. At one point Amy had even tackled her to the ground to protect her. Serena had given a shaky smile but hadn't looked into the Water Scouts eyes, she didn't want to know what they where thinking. But it didn't mean she wanted to respond.

She couldn't help but remember the second she slipped, the moment she showed her usual weakness her protector would unwittingly put himself in danger. The youma wasn't a problem, it was certainly weaker then they where used to and maybe that was why she was holding up so well against it why the others waited patiently for there plans to be activated. What ever the plans where however they hadn't bothered to tell her, that one meeting she had missed the day after Molly's party had obviously had a great deal of tactical planning.

It made her dislike Darien all the more for the disturbance in her life. If not for that one event she knew she would never have gotten out of the scout meeting. Luna would have hounded her till the end of her days if she merely chose to not go to a meeting. And she would have been able to defend Tuxedo Mask before their plans where solidified.

"Mercury, Shabon Spray." Amy's voice shouted over the rest of them. Serena risked a glance around the edge of the tree to see Amy standing to the side a little restlessly, her computer already having been put away. Serena gritted her teeth at the image, knowing it meant the genius had already figured out the creatures weakness and was now buying time, more then giving the normally needed cover.

_Fine just kill the Youma, then there wont be anything he has to save you from girl._ Serena nodded her head, spinning the moon rod in her fingers as she prepared to jump out and courageously finish off the creature. After all she couldn't delay forever, however tempted she was to try. When in a fight it was so much easier to forget her real life. It was easy to forget that the only sleep she had managed to get since that fateful night had consisted of odd and broken dreams, and those few moments had been short and fitful.

"Moon Tiara Magic." Her body moved in sync with the words, pinning the youma's position as she released the weapon.

Latter she would debate that it could have worked. That in all reality it should have worked. But right then all she could do was stare as a burst of energy repelled the tiara and enfolded the youma. Her tiara spun back into her grip and automatically she slipped it back into place. She saw instantly that her three friends where alert, Amy once more frantically typing into her Mercury computer, Raye looked apprehensive and Lita ready to jump into another fight.

Lita got her wish as the light burst from the youma leaving a much more mutinous, much more dangerous looking creature where the one with near human appearance had been. The creature had gotten bigger, subtly so, another foot in height, larger breasts, broader shoulders, and all of it was encased in a strange shell like armour.

It gave a crackling laugh and launched a direct attack at Sailor Moon. Serena went to dodge and her feet refused to move. For a moment she wondered what was wrong with them and remembered she was a coward.

Warm arm's wrapped around her and pulled her from the Youma's path. Serena spun sharply meeting the masked face of her saviour with surprised anger.

"Jupiter Supreme Thunder!" Roared and the battle was thrown away from them at the strength of Lita's attack.

"What are you doing?" She demanded hotly and shoved him away from her. Her eyes went to her three friends who where converged on the Youma, then back to him.

"I thought I was rescuing you." He replied the frown obvious under the mask.

"Well." She glanced at her friends nervously. "You shouldn't. I was doing fine on my own." She bit the words out, trying to get rid of him. But his feet didn't move.

"Sure you where." He drawled, his expression not as casual as his voice sounded.

"I was!" She snapped in reply. She did wonder if she would have survived the blow he had saved her from then pushed the thoughts away, she didn't want him to be right.

"Just like every other time?" He snapped in reply.

"Mars, Fire Soul!" Echoed behind the two, but Serena wasn't paying attention as she glared at the masked man.

"I don't need your help you know!" Her anger was mounting, and his feet still weren't moving. "I never asked for it!" Nervous eyes shoot to the trio of fighting Sailors. It was nice of the Youma to have decided to become a challenge because they still hadn't taken notice that Tuxedo Mask was there.

"Without my help you would have been dead months ago!" He retorted his fist curling at his side. The fist suddenly relaxed and a casual smile moved into place. The shift was so amazingly unexpected that Serena stopped what ever response she had been forming in the depths of her mind. "Beside's." His casual voice made her body tense with expectancy. "Your always falling over in battles. Sometimes it's a wonder you can put your fuku on without falling over."

Her blood boiled at his calm attitude and her own fists curled with the need to strike. She went to refute that she didn't have to put it on because it was magic but before the words left her mouth she realised that wouldn't help her case at all. What his words did manage to do however, was completely distract her from the objective of her evening.

"Why you!" She screeched with ferocity. "You-you Tuxedo wearing, pansy little pathetic excuse for a super hero!" Anger she hadn't realised she was storing broke through her protective barriers.

"What about you? Miss can't stand on her own feet long enough to finish a battle?" He leered.

She tried to remind herself that this wasn't Darien, but the fight did little but remind her of him. And the unreleased anger she felt for the collage boy mixed with her aggravation for her hero to make a heady mixture that left little room for thought. And she was ready to blast him with every piece of spite and anger she could conjure. Her voice was deadly as she began. "Why you-"

"Sailor Moon!" Amy's voice cried in desperation and Serena turned sharply to find her friends looking ruffled and tiered. Remembering herself she moved into the battle again, ignoring the hero behind her.

"Moon Tiara Magic." She withdrew her tiara as the words slipped from her throat in an almost shout. Power flooded through her fingers into the weapon and she followed through on the token movements that came with the attack before releasing the weapon at the distracted enemy. It sliced through the youma breaking it down into a pile of silver dust and the tiara returned to her.

Without a second thought for the destroyed youma she spun on her heel, recapturing her anger and stormed over to Tuxedo Mask who looked as willing to continue a fight as she felt.

"Well at least I can do something!" She snapped, not sure where the fight had ended but willing to start a new one there. "You just throw roses around, at least I'm useful!"

"Only if you survive to the end of the battle." He mocked lightly, an eyebrow rose as he looked over her shoulder and she turned to see the three girls watching the scene with calculating eyes. "What's wrong with your friends?" He asked half interested, but his eyes went back to her. She faced him quickly, surprised at her stupidity.

She had planned to actually finish the battle properly for once. Finish before he had to save her, and it had done little good. Had the other's been a little more co-operative it would have worked, she knew she had been doing better then usual at the beginning of the battle. She had planned to somehow contact him, after the battle. Logic had always suggested, from the dramatic entrances he had, that he witnessed the majority of the battle before he intervened. So it was only logical to assume that he would be hiding somewhere just out of sight. She had wanted to find him before the others did, and talk it through rationally, or at least leave the fighting to her. If anyone was to fight Tuxedo Mask she felt she owed him enough to do it herself.

"Shit! Go." She directed him away glancing out of the corner of her eye as her friends began to approach.

"What?" He stared down at her, with what looked like surprise.

_Why gods? Why of all days does he chose to stay and fight with me today?_ "Just go!" She repeated and tried to push him away. Another glance over her shoulder revealed the scouts had disappeared. _That can't be good._ She admitted and a second latter three figures jumped into positions around the two of them.

Serena looked about quickly, they where in a clearing, there was nothing near by to jump to. She scanned the three girls, they had looked weakened before, exhausted and out of spite, but they looked fine now. She wondered if that had been a trick and hastily put the thought from her mind, not even her friends would manipulate her that much.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Tuxedo Mask asked calmly in spite of the look's of murder that where directed at him.

"We'll make this easy for you Cape Boy." Lita began a grin splitting her features. Serena stopped to consider a reaction to the situation. She could, she was pretty sure, get him out of there. But the honest truth was the other scouts where right, they needed the crystals. But that didn't mean she'd let them hurt him in any way. He reached into his jacket pocket and immediately the three scouts where in defensive positions. A smile quirked onto his lips as he looked at them.

"And what are you making easy for me?" He looked at Serena pointedly and she felt like hiding behind a tree. It felt like a betrayal, like she was throwing him to the lions and letting him go.

"We want to Crystals." Raye snapped, flames flicking at the edges of her fingers as her dark eyes narrowed onto his form. His expression shifted to confusion as he stared at the fire priestess then looked up at Serena the confusion still there.

"You want the crystals?" He asked slowly, the question directed at Serena and no one else. The others didn't seem to notice though.

"We are more able to protect them from the negaverse." Amy replied casually but his eyes continued to bore into the guardian of the moon.

"You want the crystals?" He repeated, his voice shifting into disbelief, the kind of tone you would get in reply to asking what one plus one was.

Serena didn't appreciate it. "Look I'm sorry, but it's our job. So yes we want the crystals!" She snapped. Anger that had been temporarily put aside resurfaced.

"So you haven't told them?" His voice was dead with calm and Serena's back snapped straighter her eyes fixed on him. Three sets of eyes latched onto her questioningly.

"Told us what?" Raye demanded, but Serena couldn't hear her. Her mind was searching, frantically for what he was referring to. She couldn't think, couldn't remember what ever he was trying to refer to. She looked anywhere but at the four set's of eyes that where locked on her. Somewhere inside she was sure she should remember what he was referring to but she just couldn't. She worried that there was something wrong with her memory. But the only other thing she couldn't remember had been that night. An awful thought occurred to her.

"I don't have the crystals." His eyes moved from her, she could feel it, though she was still not looking at the others. There where two sets of gasps and the sound of Mercury typing on her computer faster.

"If you don't have them where are they?" Lita growled in distrust.

"Zoisite has them." And she felt his eyes return to her, but she couldn't get over the thoughts that pumped through her head in possibility.

Mercury had mentioned power spikes a couple of nights ago, she had never elaborated, of course it wasn't them, if one of them had been in a fight they would have said something. _Unless they where drunk._ Her stomach clenched with uncertainty.

"You expect us to believe you?" Lita shouted in reply.

"No. But why don't you ask your little leader. After all, it was her fault." His mocking voice didn't hide a tinge of anger.

"What? No it wasn't!" And that was a reflex she would never be able to explain. Perhaps it was the need to always deny fault when laid at her feet, what ever it was the damage was done. She could feel her fellow scouts emotions shifting into uncertainty. So she stared at him defiantly, knowing she would never be able to face their expressions.

"And you kept it to yourself." He continued his eyes burning into her own. "And let your friends threaten me over things you knew I didn't have. I didn't think you had it in you to sink that low."


	14. Fourteen: Crystals 2

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XIV**

The silence following Tuxedo Mask's words pulled at Serena's pounding veins. But she met his eyes stare for stare. Lita the scout of Jupiter, Raye the scout of Mars, and Amy the scout of Mercury did nothing but stare in at the both of them in response to the accusation.

"How-" Her voice cracked, the oppressing silence breaking the nerves she had been desperately scavenging for. _Not now. _She ordered herself remembering she was in scout form. Her back went a little straighter her eyes harder. How she could even for a moment forget she was transformed when staring at the tuxedo clad man was a little beyond her. Especially with her three friends powered up and standing around them.

She took another breath and all eyes fixed sharply on her.

"How dare you." She managed, feeling proud of the anger that came with the words. All her friends reacted in surprised caution, he didn't even flinch.

"How dare I?" He mocked his eyes sweeping over her. "How dare I?" He repeated and his eyes moved to the three scouts. "I thought you would have at least told them. Your friends. But then I guess, I suppose I can understand why you didn't. I wouldn't want to admit to that much failure either." He sneered it, his eyes hidden in the shadows of a mask she desperately wanted to rip off so that at least she could guess what he was thinking.

Instead of tearing the cloth from his face she sought a response, an excuse. The three scouts, her friends, where waiting for a response. The tension in the air so thick it shook her visibly.

"Is someone going to tell us what happened?" Lita demanded from the side lines of the unproclaimed battle. Serena didn't look to her friend, but the man before her did.

"Your little leader made some what of a spectacle of herself, the other day. What was it? Sunday night?" He looked back to her, and she found her attention sharpening at the demand in his expression.

"I was sick." She snapped sharply in defence, it was the best she could do. She refused to tell them she was drunk, it was far to late to tell them now.

"You didn't look sick." He snapped, his mouth set in a grim line. She could see the anger in his stance, his very existence radiated the anger, but he was keeping it in check.

She wondered fleetingly why he was holding it in.

"Well I was okay!" Serena shouted then waved her hand vaguely at the three. "Finish the story then." She managed to keep her voice relatively steady, her body on the other hand was shaking with nerves. She needed him to tell it, give her some idea of exactly how she had let Zoisite take the crystals.

She saw his eyes narrow, even beneath the mask. "Don't you think they should hear it from their _leader_ first?" He sneered again, his expression intent.

_Damn mask._ Serena still had the compulsion to take it off him, she could see his focus on her but nothing else and it was driving her insane. _How are you supposed to have an argument with a mask?_ She growled to herself, all eyes on her once more. She realised they where waiting.

"Well I'm sure I wont do my stupidity half as much justice as you will." She managed to retort, not even having to feign the anger that pushed through her. She despised the fact that he put her on the spot like this, wondered if he knew she had been drunk. Wondered when exactly in the night she had managed to fit a Negaverse battle in. _To many questions._ Serena snapped and her eyes darkened.

She had failed in her duties, duties that made her something more then the average person, the only thing that marked her special. This time anger made it's way into her. She felt nothing like guilt in the face of Tuxedo Mask's treatment. He should have known there was something wrong with her, what where hero's for if they couldn't tell when someone was drunk or sick.

"Yes well." She began glancing at her friends to see Mercury typing away on her computer with alarming speed. "If were all done fighting the Youma, I'm sure it wont matter if I go." Serena walked between Amy and Raye, her only choice if she didn't want to pass him, and began for the park's exit. "I'm sure Tux Boy can insult me quit effectively without me being around." She stated blandly sure they could hear her and not caring in the slightest.

She walked steadily, not faltering in her exit. Even outside of the park she did not run, although she knew there eyes weren't on her. She couldn't very well force information out of Tuxedo Mask, not when the other three where there. Admitting to him that she was drunk, especially if he didn't know would diminish her in his opinion. _Not that you can get much lower then the creature responsible for the lose of his precious crystals._

She had hardly progressed from the park when she felt a presence behind her. She didn't turn, didn't acknowledge it, only kept her pace, her small fists balling as she readied to attack who ever would interrupt her brooding.

The hand that landed on her shoulder, was familiar to the extent that her fists unclenched and her head lowered away from her friends face.

"What's up girl?" Lita asked in a companionable way. Serena shook her head and shrugged the hand from her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Serena muttered, not understanding how she could be sorry for something she couldn't help, but saying the words anyway. Silence followed her words and Serena dreaded when it would be broken

"Cape boy decided to do his disappearing trick." The casual remark was to break the silence, and Serena appreciated the subtle approach Lita was trying to take to get the information she was probably dying for.

"So he didn't tell you?" Serena's shoulders slumped, now they would hound her for an explanation and she had none to give.

"Nope." Another pause. Serena's nerves where stretched thin, too much stress, to many unexplainable mystery's and none of them seemed like they where going to let her relax any time soon. "So…" Lita took a breath and let it out loudly, her pace matching Serena's with ease. "…you going to tell me what happened?" Serena looked over at her tall friend, then around them. The street was empty.

"Where are the others?" She asked cautiously.

"Mercury went home to do a scan, see if there's any traces of the Crystals anywhere in Tokyo. Mars went to read the fire."

"And you came to get the story out of me." Serena finished off for Jupiter.

"Yes. So are you going to tell me, Sailor Moon?" Lita's brows where drawn in a tight frown as she stared at Serena.

"What's to tell?" Serena asked as casually as she could, pushing sudden and unexplainable tears away. Lita's expression showed she was ready to pursue and Serena bit into nothing wishing the lie wasn't half as necessary as it felt to be. "We fought, I klutzed out, Zoisite got the crystals." Serena shrugged as if it wasn't anything, hoping it didn't show how pathetic she really felt.

"You klutzed out?" Lita asked casually, her eyes on the road ahead of them.

"Yeah? So what's new?" Her voice was light and perky, surprising even her with the normalcy it presented.

"Nothing… I guess." Lita's voice was vague then a smile lit her face. "Hey look. It's late, and I'm beat. So I'm going to go home. But I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow afternoon." Lita went to turn in the direction of her house and paused catching Serena's shoulder once more. "We'll talk tomorrow." She promised in a companionable voice. Serena stared into the green eyes and saw the worry that hadn't been audible in Lita's voice. She didn't give a response, Lita didn't wait for one, instead the scout of Jupiter turned and disappeared into the night's shadows.

Serena didn't move as she watched the shadows where her friend had gone. Time passed, she could tell, because time never stopped but it was only logic that told her time had passed.

Abruptly she turned to face the direction she had been heading in and her feet began movement without a conscious thought. Her hand reached to her broach and mid stride she de-transformed, knowing there was no one about to see her. The transformation didn't even make her pause.

Serena fumed as she walked. Her booted feet crunching into the cement beneath her as she moved. She couldn't remember it sure, but that didn't mean she had been in the wrong. _But how can you defend actions you can't remember?_ She demanded of herself. She knew despite how much she didn't want to that, having being drunk she may very well have been the cause of Tuxedo Mask losing his crystals.

But he had pushed her into lying to her friends, and that was unforgivable. Even if he hadn't known what he was doing he had caused it to happen. _And if his so pissed off with me, why did he come to my rescue?_ She pushed that thought aside, not even wanting to think on it. Some thoughts where too much at times, and she already had a hundred things to worry about.

She had an entire night of her life to remember, a night that seemed to have been a lot more eventful then even she had expected. Sure, fine, she had slept with Darien, but that was beginning to subside into something less then important. She had also let the enemy get a step closer to ultimate power, and that was unforgivable._ Strike nine million and ninety nine for Serena Tsukino._

Her feet continued to stomp. She suspected if she were still transformed she would have seriously dented the concrete, it didn't matter how weak she was, every ounce of her strength was going into blaming the ground for her problems.

One redeeming thought, one that did little to actually fix anything but did relieve her slightly came to mind. If she had been in a battle, a battle she had obviously lost, there was every possibility that she had gotten injury's from the Negaverse, and that Darien had done no more harm to her then taking her virginity. But it wasn't a full proof idea, and she refused to let the possibility take hold of her thoughts.

She didn't notice the lighter step of her feet as she contemplated the possibility.

One thing was for sure, she knew, she had begun the night at Molly's and finished it at Darien's. She had asked Molly as obtusely as she could, and gotten little more help then a name she still hadn't matched to a face. And that left only one person to try and pry information from. And logically he would be the easiest to ask, because she didn't have to hide where her night had ended from him.

Setting her shoulders she made a decision that she could no longer avoid. It wasn't a question of her embarrassment or fear anymore, it had progressed past her. Now it was for the scouts and for a princess she doubted they would ever find. Now it was her duty. 


	15. Fifteen: Conversation

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XV**

Serena watched as her hand brushed invisible dirt from her pant legs. Eyes fixed on her reflection in the store windows. Behind her, through the reflection she could see the blinking lights of the Crown Arcade, deceptively calm and peaceful, waiting for her.

Her nerves where fluttering about wildly but she pushed them down. They kept twittering but her body did not react to them. Her shoulders we're back, her hair tied back in her token buns, tails of gold flooding down her back to brush clothed legs.

She was dressed for battle, as close to battle as Serena Tsukino ever came. Comfortable and concealed. Soft baby blue full length pants, a short sleaved black top that clung to her frame, leaving the gap between pants and top bare, and over it a slightly opaque shirt of a dark blue with silver specs. She could have looked nicer, but that hadn't been her intention, the last thing she wanted him to think was that she was trying to impress him. So it had taken extreme care to dress that morning.

She brushed the side of her pants absently, her eyes watching the Crown Arcade through the glass sheets, with weary caution.

"The things I do for them." Serena murmured as she fortified another piece of her courage, and turned on her heel to face the arcade. She forgot, conveniently, that this was entirely her decision, that the others still knew nothing and therefore were the last people to have ordered her into the situation she was heading for.

She walked across the street, not too single minded to not look for traffic, her mother had raised her properly and she always looked. Approaching the doors she watched like a hawk as they swung open in greeting. She paused then, rallying her nerves and forcing them away from her reach, she did not want to be effected by this confrontation. It was important, it had to happen, and it would effect her in more ways then just as Sailor Moon, even she couldn't lie about that. But she still wished she could enter and leave it without being effected. One last effort to push all emotions aside and she crossed the threshold, the glass doors sliding back into place with a surprisingly ominous 'swoosh'. (AN ­ ominous swoosh… hee hee… I couldn't resist writing that… sorry.)

Her eyes went to the same place they did every time she entered the arcade, and found the familiar raven's hair she had been checking for long before the night of Molly's party. Lithe eyes brushed across his frame, fortifying the knowledge that it was indeed Darien Shields.

Flash's of memory instantly bombarded her, and she pushed them away. They still kept her awake at night most of the time. She wondered if it was honestly possible to survive given the complete lack of sleep she had gotten over the last two weeks. She didn't think all up it would count as more then two hours sleep a night.

Roughly her eyes skimmed his body, hidden under black jeans and a top that clung to his muscles like skin. Her mind hazed for a second in thought, and before she could decide whether her dreams had overembellished his physic in any way she felt his eyes on her. Still a smooth feeling, rolling over her skin with warmth, which surprised her, she had expected the feeling to change.

She took her eyes from his arm's where they had stopped and found he wasn't facing her, for a moment she was confused then quirked a grin at herself which left as quickly as it came. Her eyes travelled past him to the mirror lining the bench where customers food was prepared, and found his eyes watching her through the mirror.

_Calm._ She reminded herself and began forwards. _I hope I wasn't standing there for too long._ She didn't let the second small grin escape her, this was serious and she would treat it as such. Her chosen seat at the bar was one down from his own, leaving a gap anyone who knew them would deem intentional, and although it was, the reasons they would assume where anything but right.

"Hey Serena, haven't seen you in here much recently." Andrew's cheerful blonde head appeared before her, his smile overbright and she returned it begrudgingly.

"Yeah." Serena replied slowly, her eyes quickly skimming the arcade around her to be certain her friends weren't there. "I've been busy." She continued when she was sure no one was in sight.

"Really?" He chirped overzealously as an un-requested milkshake slid into place before her. She frowned at it for the briefest of moments then managed a small smile.

"Yeah. Thinking and stuff." She knew it was vague, but that's how the words left her mouth and she was being careful, oh so careful to not let Andrew know what she was saying and praying that Darien would.

"Your friends where in here earlier." He continued unperturbed by her brisk responses.

"Good for them." Serena muttered sinking into her chair. _Nothing like a reminder of the friends you failed to make your day._ Her hand's didn't fidget any more then the slight twirl of her straw, she was minutely proud of that, but her insides had gone crazy again. Before Andrew could think of something else to say she decided to distract him the best way she could, give him something to do. "Hey can I have a triple chocolate banana split with extra sprinkles?" That time she made her voice perky, after all, it's what he would have expected from her when she ordered something that big. He turned away and moved across the counter to prepare the requested desert.

A silence settled over her as she waited, though she could feel Darien's eyes once more on her. She twirled the straw in a seamless motion riding out her fears and uncertainty, her large eyes flicking to Andrew only to be certain that she still had time before he reappeared with his excentric chirpiness.

Time was defiantly not on her side, she knew it. Bending down she took a long sip of her milkshake, still trying to delay the inevitable. Her left hand slipped down into her pocket grasping the Luna Pen.

"We have to talk." Serena told the beverage softly knowing he would hear her. Soft blue eyes skiting up to the mirror where she found Darien's once more watching her. Watching the reflection was easier then looking at him. It kept the arcade she always frequented unawares of her actions, and it kept her from being able to see his entire body at the same time. The dream's seemed to have made his physic obscenely appealing.

"I know." The deadpan look she received in return would have made her turn away if her left hand hadn't still clutched the Luna pen in reminder. She had to do this, for them, not for her. She wanted to run away, but for them… they where everything, far more important then her own sanity.

"Good." She snapped, masking thoughts and feelings from him, but unfortunately unable to do the same for herself. Her stomach was fluttering with those same butterfly's that had assaulted before she had even entered the arcade.

Andrew returned, and her serious expression evaporated into a gorgeous smile. "Andrew!" She gave a quick giggle, almost certain that's what she was expected to do. And he returned her smile with zest. Her eyes fixed on the desert she had ordered and she wished she hadn't ordered it. Her stomach, still butterfly filled, felt like it would reject anything that even slightly resembled food, it was having enough trouble with the mouthful of milkshake she had already put in it. Maybe a dry cracker or two would have worked but Ice-cream was completely beyond her.

"One triple chocolate banana split with extra sprinkles for my favourite customer." And surprisingly he disappeared along the counter to some other customers.

She forgot Darien for the briefest of moments as she tried to contemplate what to do with the mound of ice-cream waiting for her attention. _Maybe I can give it to the homeless._ Her head titled ever so slightly, watching the dribble of chocolate sauce trailing down the thing. She didn't even attempt to hide her expression of repulsion at the thought of eating the thing, it was far to much to handle when her nerves where being battered about so much. But she couldn't' very well ignoring it, that would hurt Andrews feelings and she didn't feel up to that either. _The dilemma's of modern woman._ It took three more stares at the desert before she decided she didn't care what Andrew thought and pushed it away in disgust.

"I'm done." She muttered, standing from the stool only then sensing the change in her companions demeanour. She looked a little surprised and found Darien. Her shoulders straightened abruptly, her mind snapping to the point. She ran her tongue along the bottom of her teeth as she considered her next words. It wasn't all that hard to say, considering her resolve, but she still wanted to keep it as unobvious as possible. "I'll- I'm going outside." She did roll her eyes as she left the arcade, almost certain that she had made absolutely no sense in her attempt to remain inconspicuous.

Outside of the arcade Serena walked left past the clear glass windows until she found solid wall. Her back lent against it gratefully as she once again rallied the control she needed for nerves. Through her mind she repeated the warning that the entire meeting was for the scouts so emotion couldn't hold it's place. Sure she had allowed emotion to effect her when they had threatened to tackle Tuxedo Mask for the crystals, but that had been different, she owed him her life.

She didn't allow herself to fidget as she waited, her hands locked before her, her eyes on the traffic, her ears on the arcade door. Every time it swung open her eyes would join her ears for the briefest of moments to identify whom so ever was exiting of entering the arcade. And the more people who did either, the more her nerves would gyrate with uncertainty and a tinge of anger. _Just like him to ignore me._ She thought with spite, she was getting to the point where she would walk away, or go back in and drag him out the consequences be damned, when a figure settled against the wall beside her.

She jumped, and glanced at the arcade doors, wondering if she had been paying attention or if he simply had a way to make the darn doors open without noise. _Of course he doesn't your just being a ditz again._

"Fine." She growled more to herself then him, and she didn't look up to make sure it was him, she knew. Without a doubt every bone in her body was humming with recognition and they only did that for him.

She pushed away from the wall and began walking, feeling the presence follow her, wondering where exactly she was leading him. The idea of his apartment was shoved aside before she could really consider it. _There is not a chance in this shell of a planet that I'm going near his apartment again._ She considered the park, but was afraid her friends would be there. Having already being to the arcade it was highly possible. Why they where meeting without her she would have to think about latter, she would have said no, but it was odd for them not to invite her. _Think about that latter._ She demanded of herself still aware of the presence a few steps behind her.

She was almost impressed by their stealthy exit from the arcade, as if they did that often. Because she doubted, besides her forgotten ice-cream and milkshake there was anything out of skew. _Except we didn't fight._ Setting aside worry of discovery she went back to her search, she was going to have to find somewhere quickly, she knew, or he'd get sick of it and start the conversation in the middle of the street. At least she presumed he was, nothing about Darien had ever seemed subtle.

Stepping past an alley she stopped, the body behind her seeming not to notice walked into her back propelling her another step forwards.

"Hey!" Darien's voice bit. "Give a person some warn-" Without a word she grabbed his arm and yanked him into the secluded ally. "-ing Meatball Head."

She didn't heed the triad that seemed to die as he spoke. She wondered though, if he had only just realised the insult slipping out of his mouth. _Automatic reflex. _ She noted but pushed that away. She wanted nothing more then to deal with the moment.

The alley bent at an angle so that they couldn't see the street once they had moved a couple of lengths into it. Serena looked about to be certain that it was empty, noting that it was moderately clean and feeling a little smug that she could pick an alley at random and it still had a generally nice feel to it.

"Okay." She stated once more, and looked up at him to find he had caught up to the moment, he too was making a note of their solitude. "Okay." She repeated, and took a breath to settle her infernal and uncontrollable nerves. "We need to talk." She began once more. Outside of the familiar Arcade she found it was actually easier to talk, there was no one who could overhear them here.

"We do." He commented look down at her through dark indecipherable eyes. She did resent the fact that the sun was almost behind him, making what would normally be a hard expression to read impossible.

"Okay." She repeated once more. _Shut up, just shut up. You can do this. You have to do this._ She had been nervous to begin with, she couldn't even think of a word to describe the butterfly's that had crept in under every pour of her skin and where presently giving her a squirmy weak feeling. Her mouth went to say they need to talk and she stopped. _Something else._ She reminded herself her jaw clamped in her refusal to talk until words of sense or originality where willing to emerge. She glared up at him angrily, he wasn't being any help at all. _At least I've made a couple of attempts, his just standing there like an idiot._ She continued to glare, her mind filtering incoherent thoughts and gibberish into something that was mushy but a bit more stable. She was going to filter them a bit more when he interrupted her attempts.

"Look." He began, a hand sliding through his hair, his eyes skimming up the alley way to where the main street waited. He paused, taking a deep breath, his tongue snaking out to wet his lips.

And for some odd reason she got her courage, like a flash of light she remembered why she was there. Not just a realisation but the firm knowledge seeping into her that she _had_ to know what had happened that night. It wasn't honour or pride, although they both held a strong pull on her, it was life. The life of the world, the need to defend the planet from an evil that made her shudder every time she let herself think about it. Something had happened that night and she needed answers.

So the question she forwarded next was with a strength and certainty she usually reserved for Sailor Moon or a very pissed off Serena. "What happened?"

He looked at her for a moment then back up at the alley.

"I don't remember what happened, Darien. I need to know." Saying his name took a few inch's of her courage but she clung to it. Determination just as bright as before.

"I was-" He gave a pause, a nervous pause she realised. "I was incredibly drunk-"

"You don't remember do you?" She demanded through gritted teeth. Her body was quaking with uncertainty, he had been her hope for a little solidity to the night.

"I was incredibly drunk." He repeated his voice strong. She looked up into his eyes and met the blue depths with a sinking feeling in her stomach she refused to display. "I don't remember a thing." He continued, not looking from her eyes and she could see the honesty in his expression as much as she heard it in his voice.

Her body trembled with confusion. It shouldn't have happened, she knew it, it wasn't supposed to have happened. All because of a drink, she wanted to go as far as blame it on Molly's party but she had no grounds for it. If it wasn't for that one moment she wondered where she would have ended up. Certainly at least, Tuxedo Mask would still have his crystals.

And if Darien had been sober, she knew, if he had been sober nothing would have happened. He probably would have picked on her a bit, and he probably would have made sure she got home or somewhere safe. She had never thought so little of him to think that he wouldn't have driven her home. Sure she never would have lived down being drunk, he would have picked on her for a lifetime or two before it became one of those story's he only told when he ran out of new things to pick on her for. _One of the "classics"_. She mockingly reminded herself. But the simple fact was, he hadn't been sober.

"You shouldn't have been drunk!" She exploded suddenly, wanting to blame him. Easier to blame him then herself.

"What?" He demanded staring at her. "Who's the fourteen year old?" He snapped staring down at her, obviously surprised by the outburst. "I'm a collage student! That's what there meant to do!"

"But you never drink! Nothing but coffee! Don't think I wouldn't have noticed if you had a hang over at least once. I can't imagine Mr. Straight A's going within ten feet of an alcoholic beverage yet alone getting drunk." Her voice was hot with poison, she needed it to be his fault, for sanity's sake.

"How would you know Serena?" There it was again. Her name on his lips. She realised he had been avoiding naming her, maybe he didn't want to call her anything but Meatball Head, but the situation would only have hurt more if he had been calling her that. He ran his hand through his hair, turned from her took two steps away and turned back, closing the distance between them once more. He was closer when he returned, she wondered if he noticed. "I was-" He took another breath, leaning back from her.

_Obviously he noticed then._ She grumbled to herself, and she took the step back that had her leaning against the filthy wall. It was obvious he hadn't been going to take that step away from her, and the proximity had pulled the few memory's she had of the event to the surface.

"I-" He began again, looking haggard. "I lost something very important to me that night. And your right. I don't usually drink. But I was a bit upset and very easily swayed under the drunken persuasions of my fellow college students."

_How does he make getting drunk sound so fancy?_ She gritted her teeth and pushed that thought away again. She hatted her mind, it jumped far to quickly for her to maintain focus, even on something this important.

"Okay." She cringed as she said the word, the same emotion's of uncertainty lacing it as the conversation had begun with. "Do you remember anything?" She managed in a meek voice, it felt pointless after his admission, but she was being hopeful. His expression darkened for a minute but he shook his head in a no, shaking the expression away with the action. "Nothing at all?"

"Bit's and pieces, I guess." He replied casually, his eyes on the end of the ally once more. She felt herself flush at the words, that was probably how she would explain the flash's that kept her awake at night and distracted of a day. She wondered if those where the kind of 'bit's and pieces' he was referring to and decided she did not want to broach that subject.

"I-" She bit into her bottom lip, looking at her feet, the uncontrollable blush hidden from his sight. "I don't even know how we met up." She rambled, eye focusing on a crushed can by her feet. "I mean…" She stammered, suddenly uncertain of what to say. "W-w-where were you?" She managed. _Your being childish._ Her voice sing-songed to her ashamed over her stammering.

"I was at a college party. Where were you?" His eyes returned to her, and she was glad she had, had time to battle the blush.

"Molly's party." Serena responded automatically, her concentration engaged in trying to pry memory's from her unyielding brain.

"Where does she live?" Darien's voice was smooth, with a feeling of control laced through it.

"Above her mothers jewellery store, Osa-P Jewellery Store" Serena mumbled almost incoherently.

"That's no where near the park." Darien replied casually. Serena's head shot up.

"You where at the park?" She asked slowly, not quite certain of how to respond to that information. It occurred to her, she hadn't pried out of Tuxedo Mask where the attack had been.

"Yeah, probably, I mean, I can't imagine you, even a drunk you, catching the elevator up to where the party was. And it had sort of spilled across the road from that guys apartment building into the park." He rambled for a little bit and she lost what he was saying somewhere along the lines.

She didn't even notice that pause that happened, Too caught in her own thoughts about how to question around about that Justin character without her friends noticing to remember the presence. That was of course, until a large hand slipped gently onto her shoulder.

Surprised her eyes jumped up to meet his, and found concern and a little confusion that was so much more understandable now she realised he didn't remember.

"Shit Serena." He breathed quietly, his eyes holding hers with there intensity. "I have flash's bits and pieces, but…" Another breath was drawn in, as if he was afraid he would run out of air before being able to get the words out. She didn't blink, couldn't blink at the expression staring at her. "but-" Another breath. "I don't remember doing anything…" Again he paused, he shifted to look away and automatically she captured his check preventing his eyes escape. Her nerves didn't even let her register her own movements, all she knew was she couldn't look away and neither could he. He frowned down at her, the tiniest frown but it was there and with her attention devoted so wholly to his expression she noticed it. "I don't remember doing anything that-that would have caused those kind of bruises."

Her breath escaped her sharply, she hadn't thought she had been holding her breath, too transfixed with him to pay attention to herself. She released his check, finally realising her hand was resting on it. Her head tilted back to the dirty bricks, and she let out another breath. She had been expecting worse, far worse, but then she couldn't exactly brush the possibility that it was him away either.

He surprised her by capturing her chin and tilting her head back to face him.

"I don't think." He continued, that little frown flicking in and out of existence. "I don't think I would ever do something like that." His voice was firm, with a sense of assurance that held in his eyes as well. "Drunk or not. I would never hurt you." And he released her, his hand moving from her shoulder, his other from her chin. One of his hands automatically went to the back of his own neck, rubbing tense muscles.

"That's nice to know Darien." She teased in a joking voice, needing something to remove the tension that had built in those two attempted sentences. "I didn't know you cared." She continued. After all it was the token teasing remark to be used when confronted with a statement like that, besides it was slightly true, but she wouldn't admit it.

He groaned and hit his head into his hands.

"Oh gods. This is all wrong." He muttered into his hands with a degree of desperation that set her on edge. She was the tiniest bit worried about his mental health, and she guessed the situation couldn't have been playing very well for him either. Control was one of those things she attributed to Darien, waking up in bed with a fourteen year old certainly didn't hint towards anything like control. Concern she couldn't explain flared.

"Hey. What's to worry right?" She teased lightly, watching him move across the alley in a frustrated manner. "Look." She began with a rational voice, catching his attention again. "I don't remember it." She breathed and straightened her shoulders in determination. "You don't remember it." She nodded her head to herself in agreement. "So let's just forget it happened." She didn't even stutter. The first thing to come out of her mouth that she felt the most certain about. His expression went blank, and behind her back she clenched her hands together with uncertainty. His response had not been what she had hoped for. She gave a nervous laugh. "Because considering our memory problems it wont be that hard right?" She watched him carefully as she rambled, sure she had flash's but she could ignore them, they would probably go away eventually, and they might not have even been real. The only real memory she had of the event was waking up in his bed, naked, and sore. She cringed inwardly at that but stared into his eyes in hope.

"Okay." He whispered his eyes settling on her. "We forget." He repeated as if uncertain.

"Back to Meatball Head for me." Serena chirped, her hands clasping tighter under his scrutiny. "Back to Jerk for you." She gave him a smile, a friendly smile trying to smooth the deal over.

"We forget." He repeated in a near whisper, then seemed to shake himself, because the next second he was standing taller and looking determined. He nodded his head at her and her smile broke into a grin.

"See you latter then!" She cheerfully called and headed for the exit. She heard him murmur something, but couldn't make out the words. Not wanting to stand in the alley with him any more, her nerves still stretched to the limit she left, aware of only two problems remaining. Not a single one of them where small. The Rainbow Crystal's where still missing in action with the overwhelming chances that Zoisite had them, and more importantly, Luna needed to be told. She had held it off, the others had assumed she had confided in the cat, obviously, because they two hadn't told her guardian. So she had to tell her, convince her not to tell them about Darien, and somehow sort the whole thing out. Her mind jumped back to the only thing left before confronting Tuxedo Mask for answers.

Justin had to be found.

But first, she would see if Andrew had thrown out her triple chocolate banana split.


	16. Sixteen: Interval

Umm… -cough- I'm going to defend myself now:

First off, updates have been lacking for two reasons over the last… however long it's been. One ­ I've been completely stuck on this next scene. And Two ­ Fanfiction.net has suffered a severe case of disfunctionality over the last few weeks. I apologise on both accounts.

Oh and I fixed the Italic's problem in the last scene... actually I fixed up a few problems throughout the story, but those Italic's where really annoying.

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**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XVI**

Luck was with Serena in some degree's. She wasn't sure how many degree's it was with her but Serena knew it was there. Luna had been persuaded, certainly not easily. But a thousand tears and lots of pleading had paid off in some measure. The assurance that she, Sailor Moon, would figure it out before the cat saw a need to spill the information to the others was probably what won her case. She didn't know why but they had been some of the most heartfelt words she had ever uttered, and Luna had seemed powerless to fight with them.

Still Luna had relented, exceedingly reluctantly. But the second she was in agreement she had also taken control of the situation in a way Serena hadn't felt capable of. She had muttered something about Central, and talking to the other scouts to see how they where going on the search for the Rainbow Crystals.

It had taken two hours to get the cat to submit, and by the end of it all Serena had little energy to do more then curl into bed and force sleep upon herself.

Sleep however proved a task quite beyond her for the fifteenth night in a row. She did doze, she was sure of it, because she would open her eye's from time to time feeling groggy and the clock's dials had always moved about ten minutes forward when she could only remember about three. However at one am she gave up, after one of the more intense memories of her night with Darien had left her shaking and a little flustered.

It was a bit odd, and she knew it, that she was getting flashbacks of things that had happened after entering his apartment, but she still had nothing from before hand. But there was nothing that could be done, so she curled up on the lounge room sofa with a glass of water and spent the next three hours flicking through channels before her body shut down on it's own accord and she fell asleep the screen flickering at her with random insignificant images.

Serena woke with a cold jerk, her body springing into an upright position as her eyes skittered about the room anxiously. Her breath, caught as she woke, released when she realised she was alone. The memory of warm hands against bare skin made her throw her head back against the pillow in frustration.

"Your just slowly going to go crazy Serena, nothing to worry about." She muttered to herself staring at the roof until her eyes fluttered closed once more.

A hand on her thigh, sending unexplainable currents through her body. Lips pressed hard against her neck, suckling soft skin. The other hand clasped behind her head, fingers digging into her hair and holding her arching body in place.

Another gasp and Serena was sitting up, her eyes moving about the room. _Obviously I'm not meant to get any more sleep._ She grumbled to herself, rising from the lounge on shaky legs. It wasn't the memory's, they where fine, it was the residue that was getting to her. The shaking feeling that made her feel weak and excited at the same time. The pulse that wouldn't calm down for such a long time after wards. The feelings pushing through her where what seemed to be driving her slowly towards the brink on insanity.

"Would you like breakfast dear?" Her mothers voice asked from the doorway and Serena's head snapped around with a glare that she forced down as quickly as she could. Her mother didn't seem to be effected, which was good, so Serena conjured a smile and nodded her head. It had become almost routine, if insomnia could be considered a routine. Her mother had left her alone for the most part. Her mother had tried to ask her what was wrong over the first few days after the incident but Serena had managed to prevail there as well. Now her mother was silent and watchful instead of questioning and curious. It was a dangerous zone to allow her mother to be in, but she couldn't fight it.

Her dad was just as clueless as always. He was only suspicious of anything because she was always awake before him, and leaving for school well before the required time. Her 'Darien avoidance tactics' had gotten her family's attention, but they where all subdued about their observations, and she knew they spoke to each other about them, but that didn't bother her. So long as she was left alone she didn't mind.

Sammy, well he was still a spawn, it didn't matter if he noticed there was something different about her or not. But he seemed to be treating her nicer then usual. She wasn't entirely happy with that change, she liked the mock enmity usually displayed between them.

Taking a deep breath Serena stood from the lounge where she had managed to get some sleep and went to prepare for school, she had things to do that day.

Luna, Serena did not conscript for this task, although she had been tempted, a little cat was much more conspicuous then a teenage girl. But she still had things she was keeping to herself, the Justin issue worried her just a little bit, she should have been able to find this person in her school somewhere. Molly knew him, and Serena had tried several tactics to get her to point the guy out, but Molly kept being unable to see him when those tactics where sprung. Serena had given up, after five attempt's Molly had started to get a funny expression on her face and started to turn the tactic around subtly.

When her friend had gotten sneaky Serena wasn't sure, but she had chosen to divert attention completely from herself and made Molly fixate on Melvin a bit more. Those two where the oddest couple, but it was exceedingly easy to distract Molly by mentioning him.

Serena moved through the library her finger running along the book spins as she searched for the title she wanted. Oh yes, she'd gotten a year book, sure she had, but she couldn't remember what had happened to it. She had tried every possible place she could think of, under her desk, under her bed, the bottom of her closet, but none had one. So the library was her next option.

Finding the book she pulled it down, flicking through it's pages for the year pictures, searched out her class for the year before. Then sat down at one of the table's reading through the list of names until she came across the one she was after. Justin Roberts. She scanned the other names, made sure there wasn't another Justin in the list and then counted across names and faces until she had the matching one.

It did take her a moment to note that she did know his face, and that he was one of the boys from her year. Placing the face took a lot of extra effort, there where lots of people in her year, and although she had glanced most of them she didn't really know most of them. She was certain, as she stared at the picture, that she had not seen him since Molly's party.

The class bell rang and she closed the yearbook leaving it in place and left the library. She didn't feel like giving Miss Haruna an excuse for being angry with her. And all the while as she moved and thought she tried to place Justin in one of her memory's. 

It was in the middle of class after her brain had drifted from the teacher that it decided to give her a break and she came up with an image of Justin and his friends sitting around during lunch.

A smile broke onto her face at the image, she hadn't seen him since the party, but she had most certainly seen his friends.

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I realise this scene was tiny, and nothing happened in it. But I have been seriously struggling with the next scene. And I've had this bit waiting to be posted, so I finally bit the bullet and posted it when FanFiction.net decided to start working again. I hope the next bit will be out soon.

Kimra


	17. Seventeen: Temple

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XVII**

Serena stared out the class room window, watching the rain that spat against the glass sheets and slid down into oblivion, oddly fascinated. It wasn't often that she found a storm of interest, usually she was too terrified that lightning would emerge in the storm to spare a thought for the beauty of it all. However somewhere between sleep and reality where her mind seemed to linger these days, she managed to find the beauty in it.

"All right class, remember to read chapter eight in your English text books, we have a test tomorrow." Miss Haruna's continued to ramble, ignored by the blond who's unfocused eyes remained fixated on the window.

It wasn't until the rest of the class began to move that Serena realised the school day was over. Tiredly she stood. The knowledge that she could recognise Justin had lost all it's appeal in less then two seconds, and once more her insomnia riddled mind hazed and returned to more troubling thoughts.

It had been easy, at first. Being happy about clearing matters with Darien up. It had been so easy. She had returned to the arcade chirpy and buoyant. She had ordered a fresh Sunday, played a couple of Sailor V games, and even had an animated conversation with Andrew. Then she had left the arcade and made her way home. But there was something nagging still, too many unanswered questions.

"Serena."

Serena looked up at the familiar voice, and met Amy's soft blue gaze.

"Oh, hey Amy." Serena mumbled looking down at her table. She pushed the nagging thoughts aside, taking a measure of control over her sleep dishevelled mind.

"You don't have detention today Serena." Amy said carefully. Serena frowned at the words and looked back up at her friend. There was concern obvious in Amy's expression, and Serena remembered that class had been dismissed already. Her eyes flicked about the room to find it still had one or two students lingering.

Serena gave a half laugh, not meeting Amy's eyes. "I know that." Her voice came out a little mocking, but she didn't cringe at her friends possible reaction, she couldn't slip now. She pushed herself away from the classroom desk, gathering her things haphazardly and threw them into her bag. Then walked to the exit.

She knew Amy was by her side as she left the classroom, and knew there was nothing she could do that change that. No matter how many secrets she had, Amy was still one of her best friends. So she kept a casual pace as she made her way home, her eyes flicking to her friend every few seconds to try and fathom what she was thinking.

She appreciated the silence between them, hoping that it would remain for the entire journey but knowing it wouldn't.

As if on que, Amy began. "Your not avoiding us are you Serena?" It was asked so earnestly Serena was prompted to respond immediately.

"No of course not!" It came out indignant, and immediately Serena scolded herself, this was her friend and she had responded as if asked something sinful.

Amy didn't seem to mind the sharpness in Serena's tone, instead she watched her friend with sincere blue eyes. "So your coming tonight?" There was a tinge of pleading and uncertainty in the softly spoken girls voice but the words made Serena reel.

Was she coming tonight? In the back of her mind Serena processed that Amy was referring to a sleep over at the temple. She had heard Lita mention it early when passing her, but had already decided against it. Just as she had decided against the last three sleep overs.

But after her indignant response to the question of avoidance she knew she would need a good response. Unfortunately any response failed her, especially good ones.

"I…" Serena breathed to give herself time to think. Amy's puppy dog eyes watching her with innocent hope. Serena's mind froze up again. She couldn't keep avoiding them as she had Darien, they didn't do anything wrong, it had all been her. "I don't know." She managed to croak out weakly.

A small frown marred Amy's expression, her lips pursing in determination. Then she looked ahead at the path her pace never faltering, her expression calming to normal.

"Lita's going to cook a feast." It was a soft comment, a random mention but Serena could help but feel it was a bargaining chip being used against her.

Desperately Serena tried to dig up her customary response to such a mention, but didn't thinks he could falsify that much cheeriness. "She always does." Was the only response she managed. She felt Amy turn back to look at her but didn't catch the expression before Amy was looking ahead again.

"Raye's not going to turn it into a scout meeting either." Another pause.

Serena didn't trust herself to speak.

"And I don't really feel like studying tonight, so maybe we can watch a movie and catch up" Amy continued gently.

Serena's heart sank at the words, her conscience pressing down on her body like lead. "Sure Ames I'll be there." She replied quietly all the while drowning in the sinking feeling of inevitability.

Serena was late. It was as simple as that. Nothing out of the ordinary, but she was still flustered about her lateness. She had asked her mother for permission, and the lady had been so ecstatic that Serena was doing something it had scared her. Luna had been missing, but Serena assumed the cat would be able to find her if she needed to. But all up, trying to calm her hyper mother and find her errant cat had taken a lot more time then she had expected.

She hadn't been in much of a rush to go to the sleep over, but she didn't want to be late. Didn't want to give Raye something to hate her for.

A lump formed in her throat at the thought of her friend as she continued her sprint for the temple. She tried to remind herself that she'd spoken to Darien, that nothing would ever be said about it again, and that Raye would never discover the extent of her betrayal, but it did nothing to remove guilt.

She stumbled up the temple steps, not sparing a thought for them except to curse when she tripped once. Usually they would require a good few grumbles but she was to distracted to volunteer such a reaction.

It was at the top of the stair's half way across the grounds to Raye's room when she heard the voice's of her friends. Again she marvelled at their volume, knowing that if she where inside she would have probably doubled it. It amazed her once more that more people didn't know their secret. Especially since they chose the tranquil grounds of a temple to have their loud discussions in.

Serena walked up to the door, but as she reached for the handle the words caught her attention, and she realised with fatalism they where talking about her.

"I'm worried. She'd been avoiding us." Came skittered through the silent grounds.

Serena's hand jumped back from the door and she stepped back frowning in thought. She knew it would be easy to interrupt their conversation, to pretend she hadn't heard that last sentence, just as easy as it would be to confront them about it. But a confrontation of them would be turned around on her, and she feared that.

"Has anyone noticed how often she's been wearing the Luna Pen? She usually carry's it around, but she doesn't wear it." Amy soft voice filtered through the thick wooden door.

"What do you mean?" Raye asked wearily.

"I think she's using it, but I couldn't tell why because she looked normal."

Serena lent against the wall by the door, her head titled as she debated with her conscience and curiosity. Wasn't this what she wanted? To know what they where thinking, to know if they had noticed.

"No way! Luna would never let her." Came Lita's chagrin response.

"I think their both hiding something from us." Raye muttered darkly. Serena bit into her bottom lip at the words, Raye sounded if nothing else angry at the thought.

"I tried to talk to Serena today. She said she would come, but I don't think she would have even considered it if I hadn't spoken to her." Amy's admittance stung Serena to the core, because more then anything else, she was right. Her body told her to run, she didn't want to hear any more, but for some reason she was rooted to the spot.

"Yeah well, has she told anyone about the Rainbow Crystals yet? Luna's not talking at all." Lita demanded roughly.

"I don't even know how to ask. Especially after his actions towards her."

"We all know Serena's gone on Tux-boy, but…" Raye snapped sharply, a loud sound of movement followed the outburst and Serena stiffened, wondering if Raye was heading for the door. "But why didn't she tell us?" The voice was closer tot eh door, and Serena shifted away from it silently, now she had been eavesdropping she didn't want to be caught for it.

"We're her best friends, we're Sailor Scouts. She should have volunteered the information the moment it happened."

"Oh yea? I asked her about it. You guys. When you went home after that battle I followed her, and do you know what she said?" There was a dramatic pause, and Serena frowned at the memory of that meeting. "She said she klutzed out!" Lita's voice spoke of disbelief and even slightly fear, a tone Serena was not used to hearing in her tall friend.

"So what's new?" Raye drawled

"Serena never klutzes out." Lita defended. Then hurriedly growled "Not when it's important."

A pause shifted through the air, and Serena moved her weight uncomfortably, staring at the silent door, trying to decide if the conversation was done.

Raye's voice came softly and filled with uncertainty. "So maybe their lying? So we wont attack Tuxedo Mask?"

Serena was indignant at the thought, and clenched her fist's in anger. Only Pyro would think she would keep things from them to protect him. After that last performance she would have told them everything to do with Sailor Moon if she could only remember it.

"I scanned the entire city of Tokyo, there isn't a single trace of rainbow crystal energy anywhere. I've broadened the scan, and it should be finished Japan tonight."

"Why didn't we do that before?"

"We had to know their energy signatures to search for them. Having managed to scan most of the crystals during battles, I now know what to look for now." Amy gave an exasperated sigh. "We had to find them before I could look for them in this way." Another pause and Amy sighed louder. "Just 'because' okay!"

Raye gave a laugh. "Honestly Lita, your as bad as Serena some times."

Serena listened to them as they went on discussing scout business, discussing all sorts of things, but she didn't approach the door until the conversation had moved away from Scout business entirely and she had calmed herself. She knocked on the door and walked in with out a word of excuse for her lateness which she knew was now substantial. And none of them said anything, all conversation seeming to die away with her entrance.

Serena's mind fazed from the video as it went by, she wasn't even sure what it was called, but it didn't hold her attention. Her eye continued to flick from one friend to another. They where trying, trying so hard and she wasn't do anything to help. She had come, but had been silent and withdrawn until they put a movie on in an attempt to break the silence. She could feel their attention was also not on the movie, but she wouldn't say that, it would be an opening for a conversation she did not want to have.

Someone on the screen was giving a dramatic speech the other scouts pretended to be enthralled by. And maybe, in other circumstances they would have enjoyed it. Lita looked a little bored, Amy's expression was studied attention, and Raye, she looked worried. Serena bit into her check at the worry in Raye's expression, considering how that expression would shift if she knew what was really bothering her.

But it was settled, it wouldn't be mentioned, she would forget it. _Then why wont you stop thinking about it idiot!_ She hissed at herself, tiny tears beginning to sting her eyes. She realised she was going to cry, something she had managed to avoid over the last few days.

Sharply she stood, not looking at the startled expression on her friends faces. "I'm going for some air." Serena whispered and was out the door before they could register her expression. She hoped they didn't see the vestiges of tears in her eyes.

Her stomach crushed in on her, her body shaking as she collapsed on the temple stairs, staring out at the night, watching the pinpoint moon high above her. She tried to push thoughts about Darien away, she honestly did, but there was nothing else to occupy her. Her friends where of no use, conversations had come to a dead halt between them, and she couldn't even escape from it all by getting angry with someone because the only person who ever did that with skill was the one person she was trying not to think about.

She tried not to think about things she had successfully avoided that entire day. A nagging at the back of her mind began to play, and all in all she had no idea what was causing the change of mood.

She was happy, she knew inside she was happy, although a frown drew on her face. She was happy that everything was back to normal. Happy the strange division between enemy's had been patched up and hidden. Happy that she hadn't flung herself into Raye's arm's and cried the truth out because the guilt was eating her up. Yes she was happy, but it wasn't all right still.

She wanted to know, as she stared up at the moon, if she was so happy, why was she crying, again. But she never got an answer, because the tears drew her down into sleep.


	18. Eighteen: Dreams

Umm… I have no idea about this bit… it's probably a bit much, or not enough. Let's just put it aside to "I've never written anything like this in my life" and forgive me for how wrong it might sound. Also! Let me re-state…

This story is rated R! Got that? And there are probably reason's for such a rating. Okay, now that's cleared up. I hope this bits semi-decent. But no matter what it was necessary.

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XVIII**

Strong arm's gripped her, her waist in their possessive hold. Hot breaths brushing across her face as his warm lips drew away. She mumbled something, something incoherent and drew him back to her, relishing the feel of his slick lips as they made their way across her features, memorising the feel of his touch. Kiss's where planted across her jaw line, up past the edge of her eye and along her forehead. A quick peck on her nose, the edge of her lips, her eye lids as they fluttered shut, all the while avoiding her demanding lips. She tried to direct the heated kiss's to her lips, and his head moved, lowering and skimming over them with the briefest of butterfly kiss, then went lower to her neck.

Her breath hitched as he closed his mouth over the edge of her neck, suckling her heated flesh, teasing it with his tongue and tormenting all her senses. Her fingers loosened in his hair a groan of frustration escaping her as she let her body relax in his hold. The arm about her waist held her close, grinding her against him, the arm behind her shoulder and neck, fingers buried at the base of her hair tilted her back. Dipping her so he could explore her neck without interruption.

Another groan as he teased her, his lips making their way down her collar bone, testing the limits of seduction before they where halted. But she made no movement to stop him, nothing in her body wanted him to stop. Her trembling limbs demanded he continue.

He straightened her without warning, his lips closing over hers hungrily, the intensity of the kiss stirring the lingering heat in her body. She pressed harder against him, feeling his excitement, feeling his longing. A groan escaped him as she arched in against him, and his tongue delved deeper in her awaiting mouth.

She gripped his shoulders, keeping the contact as close as possible as they moved back for air and returned, his hands moving across her back exploring her clothed figure.

She took the next step, reaching one hand down and sliding it up beneath his shirt wanting to know how he felt beneath her hands. Her hand travelled over tight muscles, and smooth skin, warm to the touch and she groaned at the feeling of it all.

And all restraint crumbled. He moved harshly pushing her up against the wall, raising her and sliding his leg between her own to keep her in place. Then his hands began to explore her front, slipping in under her pink top and pressing in under her bra massaging her breasts. She bit into her lip tightly at the feel of his hands, course but strangely soft. And his breath's came harsh against her neck, his hands pausing for a moment, his body firm against her own and she could feel the pulse of his need matching her own.

His grip came to her waist tightening and pain flashed through her body.

With a cry Serena jerk up, her eyes wide as they flicked about the silent night. Her body tense, her memory of pain acute but she couldn't feel it now, just the residue. Sharply she drew in breaths of air, her mind trying to catch up with the moment, trying to decipher what had just happened. A dream, a memory. She told herself sternly still trying to catch herself, but every noise made her jump. Heat pushed through her body, fighting with the pain and confusing her all the more. Her mind jumped back to bits and pieces of the memory, scared of the intensity of it.

"Serena?"

Serena let out a started cry, jumping from the temple steps and spinning on her left foot to stare down her opponent only to find Raye, watching her with concern.

"Oh Raye." Serena replied, trying to get her breathing to work properly, but the feeling that he was touching her, his fingers moving across her skin kept it erratic.

"Are…" Raye paused a frown pushing onto her expression. "Are you okay?" Came the careful question. It was funny, she couldn't remember Raye ever sounding so uncertain before. Serena thought about the dream she had just had and stared up at her friends violet eyes. She wondered fleetingly what he had done, what had hurt her so much, but her mind was to dishevelled to work. She couldn't remember any of her dreams being so elaborate before, and she was more offset then usual.

"I'm fine." Serena managed to snap, remembering her friend was waiting for a response. Raye frowned just a little more, her eyes sweeping over Serena quickly.

"You seem disturbed." Raye continued unperturbed by Serena's blatant rejection. Serena glared at her friend, trying to calm the trembling of her limbs, she was not in control here. Not even a little bit. What ever kept feeding her these dreams was having a good old time.

"I'm fine." Serena snapped once more, her back turning to the priestess. She was almost scared her friend would be able to see it on her. Would sense what it was that had thrown her so askew. She realised she couldn't be there, she was too frazzled to think clearly.

"Where are you going?" Raye's panicked voice demanded when Serena began down the temple stairs. The moon was much higher now, she noted when she paused to consider answering Raye. She didn't know where she was going, but her friend wouldn't just let her wonder about.

Serena grip her teeth, they would let her do what she wanted to. "I'm going for a walk." Serena snapped once more and continued her decent.

"If you need anything Serena, we're your friends, we'll be here for you." Raye called out softly.

Serena didn't respond, she continued walking knowing she was being watched, but refusing to acknowledge it. She waited until she was out of their sight before she allowed her shoulders to slump and her limbs to quiver as they had been begging to do.

Serena wasn't sure how long she had been walking when she entered the park. Nor did she really care, her body was still shaking, her mind still unfocused, and as if to try and confuse her further her mind had begun playing the dream on repeat for her. No she had never gotten that much detail, that much memory at once, and she could tie in a lot of the other snippets she had gotten to those few brief moments.

As she walked about the park she knew she couldn't go back to the temple until she had sorted this out. If she went back now she would probably just hear another conversation about her and all the oddity's in her behaviour of late. Besides, she was so unbalanced there was no telling what she would say just to stop the "are you okay?" questions she knew would be asked. And she couldn't go home either, because her parents weren't expecting her and she didn't want to disturb them. So she curled up on a park bench, watching the still lake and tried to figure out everything. And sleep stole her away for the second time that night.

He asked her something, something in a harsh tone that she tried to ignore. Her response was non-chalet, fear had peaked. Not fear of him, fear of herself, fear of betraying something.

His fingers curled around the edge of her shirt and went to lift it, sharply she stopped him, glaring at him fiercely. His eyes softened, his frown remained. Gently he released the shirt stepping back from her, his eyes shifting over her quickly, the excitement from only seconds before ignored as he watched her intently. She flushed for some reason and went to exit the door but he stopped her with a gentle hand.

He gave her one of those smiles she had seen before, a brief smile that set her body humming with curiosity, one of his honest smiles.

"Stay." He whispered and drew her into the lounge room, directing her to one of the sheets. She shifted uncomfortably on the plush couch, then let herself sink into it. He left the room, and she let her eyes travel over the expensive but Spartan apartment. She rested her back against the couch and automatically arched it away as pain flared. A groan, but this time of pain came from her and she surrendered to the evening.

He returned quickly, something in his hand. He said something else, something cold and sterile.

She stood up anger flushing through her body, mixing with the fear of discovery, a emphasised by the excitement from mere minutes ago. She didn't give him time to think, her hands sliding in under his shirt, feeling him tense beneath her touch. He moved back a step, her hands falling to his waist her smile playful.

And she released him. Before he could speak she took what he held and threw it across the room, letting it disappear into a corner before she faced him with triumph. He growled something low, that made her shiver and the next second he had her in his grip again, his lips searching for her own, his hands exploring. They skipped past her waist carefully, but explored the rest of it intently. His right hand slid in under her shirt unsnapping her bra, the other hand unhooking her skirt buttons and sliding the zip down.

Her body riled with the heat forgotten only momentarily, her hands fiercely unbuttoning his shirt as he drew her own off. It was a strangely co-ordinated mess of clothes as they where thrown about the room, every article giving more chance for contact and that contact being enjoyed. He picked her up letting the friction of skin on skin be enjoyed before his lips once more began to trail her body, this time not inhibited by clothes, or any other boundary's.

And she surrendered to his touch, wanting and willing to returned every caress as he drove her into ecstasy.

Serena's eyes opened languidly, her mind on reply and she realised something. Something that was both unexplainable and undeniable. She had wanted Darien, more then anything else, despite what ever her efforts where to deny it, she had wanted him and taken him. She rubbed her eyes fiercely, trying to remove the thought and jumped to her feet only to find she was shaking worse then before.

Her body wanted him again, the remnants of memory pushing her to want his touch a second time, wanting him to complete what her mind was not willing to let her remember yet. She cursed silently, staring up at the sky as she tried to decide. If she closed her eyes again, he would be there, she knew it with a certainty that hurt. If she allowed herself to dream he would be the focus of that dream.

She had done something wrong the other day, choosing to forget what she couldn't remember. She had hoped it would remove the memory's entirely, but it had been a childish hope and she hated that it was wrong. Life would have been simpler if forgetting had been an option.

Her eye's travelled the park around her, then moved across to the buildings overlooking it. And she made her decision, her feet taking her to an apartment she hadn't realised she knew the address for.

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And I'm back to begging to reviews. I value your input! And I really really want to know what you think. And in all honesty I do write heaps more when I'm reviewed a lot, it's not a concious thing, it's just what happens.


	19. Nineteen: Changes

Thank you everyone for those amazing reviews, I'm really glad you all set aside your time to review me like that.

And umm… just in case anyone's suffering from delusions, this story still has a little while to go. I'm trying to get it done, it's getting old and probably boring, and besides I'm having more fun writing my other story's right now (which you should all read as well… especially Innocent's Violence… it's so clieche, but I think it's fun… -end plug here-). –cough- sorry.

I hope I can get more of this out soon for all of you.

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**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XIX**

Serena knocked on the apartment door resolutely, her mind jumbled but certain. The tranquillity of the night around her had no effect on her nerves, nerves which where humming with uncertainty and curiosity.

She wasn't expecting the door to open when it did. She actually expected to have to knock three or four times before she roused anyone. From her best guess it was somewhere near midnight. But the door opened before her without warning, revealing a frowning Darien, whose's expression went blank the second he recognised her.

Serena tried to talk, her attempt falling to pieces the second she realised he didn't have a shirt on, her mind freezing in a loop of memories as she stared at him. Her hands had explored that strong chest before, and they itched to do it again.

"What are you doing here?" His voice seemed strained, and her eyes jumped up from his chest to his eyes making contact. His expression was darker then she could ever remember it being and she went to step back a little scared. As if he sensed it the expression cleared to nothing, but there was still something in his eyes. And it didn't scare her, although there was some fear in her for the expression, it excited her and she knew why. That dark look existed too in her memories.

"I-" She stopped, rethinking trying to breath properly, "we-" again she stopped, not even sure what she was trying to say. She looked down the empty corridor then up to him. "Can I come in?" She asked gently trying to control her frantic heart rate. His presence before her was like an anchor drawing her in and pulling her closer, and she was trying to remain calm in the centre of the overwhelming feelings.

His hand flexed about the doorframe, his body fixed in the doorway and completely unmoving and she realised he was baring her from his apartment. "I don't think-" He swallowed his eyes jumping to a spot over her shoulder, breaking eye contact. Then after a pause continued. "I don't think you should." There was a slight strain to his voice still, and Serena was struck with a realisation, it was restrain.

Without warning she breached the distance between them, her arm's enclosing his neck and her lips and body slamming into his. It set him completely off balance and threw him against the wall a step behind him. He gripped her waist and pushed her away sharply before the kiss could be anything but chaste.

"Don't." His voice was dark and filled with warnings and she allowed herself to be pushed back a step or two, but not out the door, she refused to leave yet.

"You remember it don't you?" Serena demanded in between gasps for air. Her body was burning with the need to touch him, to repeat what her mind continued to replay for her.

"No." He snapped, his eyes averted from her own, she knew he was lying. He went to move her out of the apartment but she refused to budge. He surrendered his struggle to remove her from his apartment and went to walk away from her. She lunged, clasping her hand around his forearm, appreciating the friction of the bare skin contact. Even the slightest touch felt more real then the memories she had been allowed, and she dazedly wondered how much the others sensations would be amplified. She blushed at her own thoughts, but didn't stop them.

"Just bit's and pieces. Right?" She managed to snap out. "That's what you said, bit's and pieces." Serena demanded, her fingers tight around his arm. She calmed herself a fraction. "That's all I got too." She whispered, but it was enough, his body turned sharply to face her. "Every time I closed my eyes I'd get bit's and pieces of memories. Of us. I wanted to forget it, forget that I ever lost control of a moment, but tonight, it just didn't let me go." She breathed harshly staring up into his eyes pleadingly. "You remember don't you? You didn't before, but you do now. More then bit's and pieces, just like I do." He frowned at her again and looked away.

"You should go." He warned.

"It doesn't work!" She snapped, angry at his rejection. He looked at her, a flicker of concern in his features before they where neutral again. "I can't just walk away and forget. I want to! But I can't!" She took a step closer to him and he went to retreat. Her body trembled with the need the dreams had drawn out in her. "I haven't slept properly since it happened, and every time my eyes close your there! I can't get rid of it, I can't ignore it and I don't want to!" Again she breached the distance between them faster then he could react, her lips finding his, her arm's locking about him demanding and persistent.

And in the next moment she was in his arm's again, just like in her memories, only this time it was better, because this time she had control of her sense's and it was not a frazzled memory that refused to surface properly. And every touch of his was felt like a wave through her nerves sizzling her mind until it could think of nothing but him.

She put as much passion, as much demand as she could into the kiss, knowing there was no other way to get what she wanted. It was strange, inhibition was beyond her, and all she really knew was she needed this more then anything else she had ever wanted.

The kiss's deepened, and she let it, let him lead her further into passion her hands searching over his bare chest, trusting him to hold her close. Her pulse raced with excitement, feeling the taut muscle's under her touch, marvelling as he flexed his arm's beneath her hands and lifted her off the ground. Her legs clamped down around his waist in reflex, the kiss's still continuing, throwing them deeper into each other.

And no more protests came from either of them as they surrendered to the moment.

Serena woke disorientated, the light, although there was little of it was wrong. She sat up with a groan of frustration wondering why the moonlight would be playing tricks on her. The smooth feel of satin sheets as she slid down her upright body surprised her and she glanced down finding herself bare of clothing.

Startled by the realisation Serena grabbed at the blanket and drew it up over her chest, her eyes flicking about quickly, desperate to find orientation. She found it when she realised the room was not entirely unfamiliar, and more when she found the male body lying next to her.

Memory intruded on her sleepy mind, making her blush several times before she forced thoughts of embarrassment away. She tried to reason with herself unsuccessfully, she wasn't even sure why she was there. But she knew something had brought her there, something beyond her power to understand, beyond her power to fight. She wondered if it was desire, because she felt that as she stared at the strong body still asleep beside her, but it didn't seem quite right.

Darien made a noise, his body shifting on the blankets, and she held her breath staring at him but he did not show signs of waking. Her breath released and she clutched the sheet to her a little tighter. Out the window she could see it was still night time, the moonlight reflecting of the glass and littering the room with strange sparkles she chose to ignore. Her room was better, that pure untainted moonlight filled her with such solidity that she could feel nothing but stable when she let it protect her. This room had the air of mysticism and inexplicability that enchanted her but put her on edge.

Again Darien made a noise, and absently she rested her hand on his chest in a request for silence. Feeling the gentle heart beat beneath her touch and calming his prone figure with the action.

Her breaths where almost silent as she soaked in the atmosphere of the room, her room might have been better, but there was something enthralling about this one.

She shook her head, removing inconsequential thoughts and turned her attention to the man resting by her side, his warm chest still rising and falling peacefully below her hand. This, she knew, was what she had to think about, not the lighting of the room. This was the centre of all her dilemma's or more to the point 'he' was.

_No the centre of your dilemma's still that night. You still know nothing._ She warned herself but finding out about that night had suddenly taken a step backwards in her priority list. She had to think this through. _Okay, fact. You just slept with Darien… again._ Serena gave a little groan, her head threatening a headache. She had barged into his home and seduced him straight into bed, no talking no asking how he was, it had been sex pure and simple, and although she couldn't find any real remorse for the night she could feel the beginning of guilt touch her awareness.

She couldn't imagine explaining it to him, when he woke up, when he had more then male hormones to think with. She hadn't given him the chance the night before, she had been unwilling to, and if it had been her… when she woke, she would be pissed. And she didn't want to face that. She didn't want to face guilt or anger, what ever came. There had been no harm in the actions, after all, they had done it before. But she was suddenly finding a hundred reason's not to be there when he woke up. And they all revolved around a reaction she was completely uncertain of and her fear for each and every possible one.

Silently she slipped off the bed, finding her clothes this time where she remembered them to be, littering the little hallway between his front door and lounge room. They hadn't gotten very far into the house at all. The door had been their greatest obstacle the night before, trying to get it shut while not breaking the contact they had between them. It had shut in the end, she wasn't sure how well, but it had shut.

Serena physically shook the thoughts away, it wouldn't do now to think about what had just happened, she needed to be away. She needed to get back to the temple before her friends had coronas because she had disappeared so suddenly. Just because Raye had seen her leave didn't mean they wouldn't worry about her. And Raye…

_Don't._ She warned herself sternly, a drunk fling was one thing, a sober throw yourself at him fling was entirely different, but strangely she didn't feel guilt this time. Her need to be there had surpassed friendship as selfish as that sounded but Raye's puppy dog eyed attraction for Darien didn't hold ground against what Serena now had with him. What ever that was.

She left the apartment, latching the door properly behind her and pressed the elevator down button. She felt a little odd, rerunning the steps she had taken that life changing morning. Her fingers closed over her transformation broach her other hand reached into her pocket to find the communicator just to be certain. Nothing would wake him up this time, she would remember it, and she wouldn't regret it.

Serena got back to the temple somewhere near dawn, and found three girls sitting on the veranda each watching the other with worry and uncertainty etched across their faces.

"Hi guys." Serena managed blandly, not acknowledging the changes of emotions that ran across their faces like liquid silver.

Lita got the jump on the other two. "Oh my god Serena!" She propelled herself off the pole she had been leaning on and was across the small clearing in three giant steps. "Are you okay?" Lita demanded, wrapping a hug around the smaller girl then jumping back to check for injuries. Serena almost frowned at the reaction.

"I'm fine. I told Raye I was going for a walk." She looked over Lita's tall shoulder to nod to Raye, the scout of fire seemed to acknowledge the words but was not happy with the excuse.

"That was nearly eight hours ago!" Amy cried in indignation, her blue eyes flashing with a rare show of anger.

Serena shrugged and replied airily. "It was a long walk."

"We went looking for you." Raye snapped with agitation and Serena saw the agitation rising when she didn't response. "Anything could have happened!" Raye shouted her voice cracking. Serena expected her to continue but Raye turned sharply away from her, her shoulders slumping. 

Serena licked her lips thoughtfully, trying to find a reaction inside herself, but nothing came. She felt disconnected from the scene of her angry and upset friends. Slowly, almost reluctantly she responded. "Well it didn't." It was the wrong thing to say she could tell from their reactions but till couldn't find it in herself to care. "Hey where's Luna?" Serena asked passively, her eyes scanning her motley group of friends who watched continued to watch her with transparent emotions. "I haven't heard any scathing remarks from that direction all day."

"She's been doing a lot of work on central recently, scanning for Nega-"

Serena cut Amy of quickly, not in the mood for the words about to be said. "Yeah whatever." She muttered to the blue haired girl, all she needed to know was when the reprimand would come.

"Don't you care Serena?"

"Not right now." She muttered snuggling into the blankets sprawled across the floor.

"What kind of a leader are you? This is important, and instead of showing even a mild interest you disappear for hours in the middle of the night." Raye began her usual chant of insults, all dutifully ignored by the impassive Serena. "And your not even listening!" Raye's scream managed to filter through and Serena tried to be calm, that she was exhausted helped her attempt.

"I'm trying not to." Serena muttered her eyes moving past the three angry teens through the temple doors where her bag waited.

"Where have you been?" Amy demanded in a tight voice, surprising Serena a response.

"I went for a walk!" She snapped, the impassive emotions drawing out into anger in the face of their reprimands.

"Do you think were stupid? Not even you go for eight hour walks in the middle of the night!" Raye warned.

"How would you know?" Serena growled her hand's closing into a fist. They didn't know anything about her. They had been pretending, and prying into her life for the last few weeks and it had done nothing but get in her way.

"We're your friends we just know." Lita tried calmly.

"Well maybe your assuming too much." Serena snapped, her anger taking full hold. "Maybe your assuming just because we're all Scouts we're friends. Just because of that we have to tell each other everything."

"Serena-" Amy began in a calm voice.

Serena interrupted her quickly. "We don't okay! It's none of your business what I do with my time or where I go! So get off my back!" She stormed past them, having to physically shove Raye aside so she could grab her night pack out of the temple. Then without another word, ignoring their pleading expressions she left the temple grounds.

Serena twisted the shower knob as far at it would go, the cold water cascading down against the tiled floor and quickly swirling down the drain. She stepped back, shaking her hand to remove the few drops of icy water that had splattered against her and moved to the corner of the tiled room to where she had dropped her night bag.

She had left the temple and gone straight to school, several hours early. She'd transformed and jumped the thick walls that protected school grounds then broken into the girls locker room before de-transforming again. The last thing she wanted was to make herself easy to find, should her shocked friends take it upon themselves to look for her again.

The silence of the building around her as she stripped her clothes off and threw them beside her night bag pressed in against her, a sterile silence that only schools and hospitals seemed to hold. She ignored it as best she could, finding it more comfortable then being at the receiving end of her friends expressions of hurt and anger.

Her hand reached out to test the water and it burnt into her skin, turning it red immediately. Serena sighed ignored the head and stepped in beneath the pounding water. It burnt her skin at first making her quake until her body had slowly adjusted, then she began to scrub herself clean.

She washed the matted sweat from her body, striving to remove a scent that was not her own. A scent that assaulted her senses and drew forth real memories, not dream memories. But it lingered under the scolding water, musky and sweet and entirely too overwhelming.

She got through the day with relative ease ignoring her friends, who in turned watched her solemnly yet silently. Her teacher berated her for not doing her homework, and then berated her about a test score, all of which Serena did not care about. The class sat a test which she barely attempted and when class was let out Serena managed to avoid any contact with anyone before she had gotten home.

Her mother greeted her entrance and Serena responded briefly before slinking off to her room. In her room Luna lay, asleep and oblivious, Serena decided she would keep the cat that way for as long as she could and instead gathered new clothes and locked herself in the bathroom, ready for the battle of getting rid of the sensation that he was still there, still a part of her no matter how far away from him she was.

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Please review my story. T'would be highly appreciated.


	20. Twenty: Another Battle

**Okay people. Zoicite is a guy. I don't care what DiC say, he was written as a guy in the manga, he was a guy in the Japanese Anime, and only close minded idiots in America who couldn't cope with anything out of the norm made him a girl. I just wanted to clear that up, I know someone would have said something about it otherwise.**

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**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XX**

She was in the shower when her communicator began beeping. Not entirely sure how long she had been there, briefly aware that she would have to surrender the security of the bathroom. It was strange again, in her own home it felt the safest of havens. Perhaps it was because she could think of other things while in the shower, she always could.

But the aggressive beeping of her communicator shattered her blissful ignorance. She jumped out of the water, fumbling with the taps before the spray ceased. She grabbed at her clothes pulling the pair of black denim shorts and white bonds shirt over her water drenched body, cringing only a few times at the texture before darting out of the bathroom into her own room.

She grabbed at the communicator on her desk and answered it. Luna's face appeared on the screen immediately.

"Quickly Serena! There's a Youma at the mall." Was all Serena heard before she tucked the communicator into her pocket, her other hand grabbing at her broach. The cool metal sent shivers of power through her body and as she held it above herself, almost shouting the required words the power increased, engulfing her body and hissing through her veins. The world around her seemed to tilt at the intensity of the magic in her small body before she had control of it all. She pushed the feelings deep inside, ready to be recalled the moment an enemy was near, and jumped out of her bedroom window.

The run to the mall went by at a dizzying speed, leaving her little time to contemplate the first meeting with all her scout friends since her explosion at them the night before. Nor the need she would have to lie to them again. It hurt that they kept forcing her to lie, if they had just left her alone then she would never have had to betray them.

She found her way into the mall and discovered nothing but silence. It bit into her psyche, she had expected to walk into a fiery battle where four scouts would immediately demand to know what took her so long while a Youma tried to rip her to shreds. Instead she was met with ominous silence. Silently she stalked deeper into the mall, listening intently for signs of battle. Serena trembled with the silence that met her. Her hand fumbled for a second before she had her communicator and pressed the button for Luna. Almost immediately Luna's face appeared looking concerned.

Before the cat could talk Serena began. "Where is it?" She hissed irked by the surrounding silence and unwilling to break it. Luna looked baffled for a moment then a little disappointed.

"It's at the mall Sailor Moon." Luna snapped back, her voice jumping out of the small speaker and reverberating off the empty walls. Serena physically ducked behind something.

"Luna! Haven't I spoken to you yet for shouting on the communicator?" Serena hissed with animosity. Luna looked a little puzzled and Serena chose not to further that discussion, it could be had at another time. "I'm at the mall. Where in the mall is the Youma?" She bit out with wavering patience.

"I don't know!" Luna seemed frazzled, her eyes skipped away from the communicator for a moment then returned. "I assumed it would be making itself known by now."

"Your not at the mall?" Serena snapped agitated by the anti-climax. Her battle sense's falling lax in disappointment. It had every tell tale sign of a false alarm, though that had never happened before she couldn't overcome the feeling.

"I'm at central, I've been working on-" A loud explosion drowned out Luna's mumbled explanation and Serena's head jumped up in response.

"Never mind. I found it." Serena muttered as she once more turned the communicator off and put it away. Then without hesitation she began her sprint in the direction of the explosions. Her feet pounding against the tiled floors her thoughts suspended as the adrenaline of battle returned pulsating through her.

She ran around a corner and found herself face to face with red skinned woman. She blinked in surprise before she felt herself lift off the floor and fly backwards only able to acknowledge that she had literality run into the Youma before she hit the solid wall.

A groan escaped her lips as she forced herself to her feet, her eyes darting to find the blurry Youma watching her with a smug expression.

"Is that the best you've got Sailor Brat?" It sneered, and Serena shook her head, trying to regain focus. It did not approach her immediately, but stood, almost waiting for her to get her bearings. Serena tried her best to study the creature as she righted herself. It was once more more human then Youma in appearance. It was a bit unnerving, usually the average citizen was easy to distinguish from the Youma's when in battle, but this one looked almost human. _If you ignore the lobster red skin._ Serena admitted.

She felt the currents of the second blast before it hit, but hadn't quite gotten herself that much together to be able to avoid it.

"I thought you'd be a challenge." The Youma sneered once more, revelling in it's role as the superior warrior.

"Yeah well, the Negaverse has always been stupid now hasn't it." Serena snapped grimacing at the pain that rid up her left leg. If the stupid Youma didn't stop blasting her she was going to have a hard time fighting back.

"Look who's talking." The creature growled, and another blast slammed her back. Thankfully pain wasn't entirely overwhelming, and in her current state of mind these attacks seemed more an annoyance then anything else. 

"Would you quit doing that?" Serena demanded, her breath ragged as she attempted to stare down the Youma. Something was odd about the situation, she could tell the second her eyes skipped past the Youma, though in her predicament she didn't have time to consider exactly what that was.

It gave a laugh, energy balling at it's fists when out of nowhere a cloud of bubbles flooded the corridor. Serena heard the booted steps of Mercury as she entered the scene cautiously, but didn't seek out the scout. Her back was a little sore from the encounter with the wall, for all she belittled the experience.

Slowly the bubble fog began to fade, revelling the figures of the three friends, parallel to her, the Youma directly between them. It turned to face the new arrival's ignoring Serena as she grasped at her side, feeling a line of blood trickling over her fingers. She frowned suddenly ignoring the fight, she hadn't thought she was hurt, but glancing down, she could see the cut along her waist.

"Mars, Fire Soul." Shattered the lull in the battle, and immediately the Youma took a greater interest in the fighting. It was no longer facing a lone individual who had been taken by surprise, it was facing three Sailor Scouts who where set on it's destruction.

With it's back to her, Serena drew forth her energy reserves, that which she had tucked away, storing it within her tiara ready for the final attack. The three scouts continued to shout their battle cries, power lacing through the abandoned mall lighting up the derelict and closed stores.

She faltered in her attack her head tilting as she stared at the scene. The Youma still looked unsettlingly human, but that was of little consequence, what bothered her, and she knew what had seemed odd to begin with, was the solitude of the moment. Amy had said it before, the Negaverse had reverted to energy gathering Youma, or maybe it had been Raye who had said it. But there was nothing to drain energy from in the deserted mall.

Fire ploughed into her throwing her across corridor into the steal grate of a shop window. She felt the metal bend behind her and the slight crack of the glass as the force pushed through. Then the attack stopped, and Serena's body, released, hit the floor. She rolled to the side and stood in the same motion, her eyes looking to where she best guessed the power had come from. She found a pair of greens eyes laughing at her.

"Zoicite." Serena sighed in resignation. It wasn't bad enough that she had to fight Youma nine to five, but the generals just rubbed her the wrong way.

"Sailor Moon." He sneered pushing a strand of orange-red hair behind his ear. In his left hand a ball of fire simmered, doubling in size before he flung it at her.

As if by second nature a rose flew to intercept the flames killing them before damage could be done. Zoicite's eyes jumped away from Serena in agitation and landed on the familiar figure of Tuxedo Mask. Serena didn't pause to think, she jumped immediately to her feet searching for her tiara, and found it, clasped in a death grip in her right hand. She was a bit surprised by that, but didn't pause to think. She charged it again throwing it at Zoicite with a speed quite unlike her usual self.

Zoicite disappeared and the tiara sped through empty space before returning to Serena's grasp. She automatically pulled the energy back into herself her eyes darting about for the general. Somewhere to her left, between herself and Tuxedo Mask she felt the ripples of power as the general reappeared. She didn't have time to turn before another blast of energy was directed at her, throwing her across the room, the tiara in her grasp jumping from her hand and skittling across the tiled floor with a clattering noise dulled out by the sounds of distant battle.

"Is that the best you can do Sailor Moon?" Zoicite taunted then laughed mockingly at her.

Another rose sped through the air, Serena heard it with the skill of familiarity and she heard Zoicite shout something out in anger, but her attention was fixed on retrieving her tiara not on aimless words spoken. Her eyes hungrily scanned the mall floor for the golden metal wanting to finish the fight as quickly as she could.

She had ignored it before, but her side was beginning to burn, and her back felt broken and bruised from the countless collisions she had been party to during this battle.

Her eyes fell on the tiara and she breached the distance, grabbing it up immediately, and spun around ready to throw the attack at Zoicite once more, only to find that the battle had moved around another corner. She cursed silently wondering why the Youma hadn't at least had the courtesy to chose an open battle ground. _Like the food court._ She muttered to herself even as she ran after the general and masked hero.

She did spare a glance for her three friends before she turned the corner, their power's soaking the air around them. Water strewn across the titled floor mixing with the broken glass, spot fires having blazed into existence around the scene, while electricity danced through the air with menace. But the Youma looked almost dead on it's feet so Serena continued her chase, leaving them to there own devices.

She came upon the battle between Zoicite and Tuxedo Mask quickly, and found that for a man who could do little more then throw roses and spout poetry he was doing fairly well for himself. She wondered why he was fighting still, wondered if he still maintained his hope of retrieving the rainbow crystals. But to do that he certainly didn't have to save her from Zoicite as he had done he merely had to defeat Zoicite and what ever else the Negaverse was going to throw at him.

She pushed thoughts away, focusing instead on battle. In her hand was the uncharged tiara, and she quickly forced energy into it again. Drawing from reserves of power she had not tapped for a long time. She guessed the power surge was detected because she immediately became a focus of the generals attention. His green eyes darkened at her.

"Don't you know when your not wanted?" Zoicite taunted, jaw muscles tightening.

"Funny." Serena drawled, her body tense as she stared at the general. She knew as with before that if she threw the tiara he would simple disappear and rematerialize somewhere else to launch an attack. "But no." She continued, then with a dramatic arch threw the tiara straight for her enemy. As if on cue he disappeared, letting the tiara slice through empty air and swing back into her grip. This time she didn't draw the power in, her attention focused instead on the power in the air around her.

She felt Tuxedo Mask's presence, her own power, the residue of her tiara's travels, residue of Zoicite's presence, and then the ripple of blooming power. With a little glance upwards for guidance she spun on her toe's and released her tiara aiming directly for this new source. A little too slow she realised as the generals flames raced at her. The tiara sliced through the fire and continued to travel, the flames too ignored the brief meeting and Serena froze.

A force slammed into her side, throwing her off balance and against the ground. For a moment she was frazzled, she was sure rescues where meant to be more gentle, but she was also sure death was meant to be less… painful. A cry of agony shot from her mouth and she rolled off her side. A second latter she pushed the weight that rested against her off, and jumped up catching her tiara, her eyes searching the corridor around her but no other strange currents of power came.

"I think you scared him." Tuxedo Mask muttered from his sprawled position on the floor. "Usually your too busy shouting about how you 'don't wont to die' to fight that well." He got too his feet as he spoke and offered her a charming grin when he was finished. At least she would have found it charming once. It did little but make her feel hollow at that moment.

She turned her back to him and began walking away. "I guess I just don't care right now." She tired to sound flippant, but the words stirred bile in the pit of her stomach.

She hardly made it past five steps before she was spun around by a strong hand to face her constant saviour. For all his eyes where masked she could detect a lot of worry in his expression as he looked down at her.

Silence reigned as he searched her face, his secure grip softening as the time stretched on. She felt his concern like a thick blanket surrounding her and comforting her, making her barriers waver. And he hadn't even began talking. Tiny tears threatened to escape her hold.

"Are you okay?" His left hand caught her check reverently, his thumb brushed below her eye and she realised some tears had escaped her.

She blinked the water in her eyes back into non-existence and tried to met his eyes through the mask. It didn't matter that she couldn't see the contact as he looked straight back at her, she could feel it in her bones.

She tried to say she was fine, that nothing was wrong, but the tears continued to fight her control and build, glazing her eyes over. The words wouldn't move past her throat.

His concern was pliable and it broke through her last layers if control.

"No." She chocked out, looking away from his face to the ground.

She couldn't lie to him, he had never demanded anything from her. They where not friends, but nor had they ever been enemies. They where not lovers but neither where they indifferent. It was a stable and frank relationship. When she had asked for the crystals, he had said no, he had been brutally honest and she had seen that it hurt him. And she would forever return that honesty.

"No. I'm not okay." She looked back to his expression her eyes brimming with the tears that with her admittance she had stopped holding in.

Immediately she was pulled into his embrace, his hold warm and secure around her and the dam of tears collapsed, leaving them to flood down her checks into his soft vest.

She decided then as he tried to cradle her against her worries that he was the only constant in her life.

No matter what judgement he passed on her, he would always return.

It was strange the sense of security that alone gave her. Even Luna had changed, angry first, then horrified, then uncertain because of one event and the way she treated her had changed. But he would always be there to save her, just like he was doing now. Helping her, but not asking what was wrong, offering his shoulder to cry on instead of demanding she stop.

Even when she had caused the loss of the Rainbow Crystals he had not hesitated in saving her, the battle following that he had insulted her in bitterness, but again he had saved her, and then he had saved her from Zoicite, and now from her fears.

She looked up at him, her face tear streaked but an accepting smile in place of her previous frown. She was wiling to tell him, in a way she wanted to tell him. Oddly it felt right to tell him, she was already open to him, it was natural for everything else to follow.

"Hey! Sailor Moon!" Raye's sharp voice interrupted Serena. Serena did not respond, her shoulders tensing under the man before her's touch. "In case you forgot there's a Youma waiting for you to dust it back there. Romantic rendezvous can wait still your not on scout time." Raye's voice was bitter and resenting, and Serena didn't turn to face the expression that would match.

Her fingers curled into Tuxedo Mask's vest, her head nestling into the side of his neck, lips by his ear.

"I don't know what I'm doing any more. I can fell it slipping away. Like I've fucked it all up and nothing can make it better." She confessed in a strangled voice, only audible to him.

"Any time Sailor Moon." Raye growled, the echoing sound of her foot tapping at an unsteady rhythm.

Tuxedo Mask's grip tightened around her, holding her closer. She felt a soft kiss against her check and the tears came out again with a visible sob.

"When there all gone, will you stay?" She begged, hearing the low growl coming from Raye. She didn't want to lose them, any of them, but they kept pushing and pushing, and all she could do was cave under their pressure of push back. And since caving would require relinquishing a secret she was anything but proud of pushing back had been all that was left for her to do. Eventually she knew she would push them too far and try as they might what had been between them would be broken. And she was scared the line had been crossed already.

"I'll protect you, no matter what happens." His promised her in a delicate whisper, her hold tightening once before releasing her entirely. She stepped back from him, bitting into her lower lip, her eyes burning with gratitude. If he had known what she needed or not did not matter, he had given it to her. 

She mouthed the words 'thank you' to him before squaring her shoulders and turning away. She felt safer, she felt more secure, but it did nothing when she turned to find Raye glaring daggers of anger at her from much further down the corridor. Serena brushed quickly at her checks to remove the tears stains and then, without acknowledging the priestess, Serena returned to the Youma battle scene.

Amy stood to the side of the corridor, silently watching the floor, her computer already having been put away. Lita loomed over the Youma, daring it to some how gain the strength to stand up and try for a second round. Serena tried to great them both with a false smile, but Amy did not look up when she entered and Lita's expression was void of any response. 

She fought off the onslaught of true tears valiantly. Already they where not talking to her, already they where keeping their distance, and already she felt their loss. But it was her own fault and she knew it better then they did.

So she focused her attention back to the almost dead Youma on the mall's tiled floor and finished off what none of them could, before silently turning from them all and returning home.

Serena stared at the chocolate milkshake before her with intensity She had foolishly chosen to sit in one of the booths upon her arrival at the arcade, thinking that Darien would sit at the counter and talk to Andrew as he always did and now she was trapped.

He had come in only five minutes before, and there had been no pause to conceal where his attention belonged before he had strode over and sat next to her. _Trapped._ She spat at herself fiercely.

"Talk to me." He demanded, though his voice wasn't as angry as she wished it was. Serena raised her chin stubbornly but did not met his eyes. This time it had been all her fault, no matter whose it had been the last time.

"How's college going for you Jerk?" She sneered, her stomach twisting at the words and even less able to meet his eyes then she had been the moment before. Two nights ago she had thrown herself into his arms and coerced him into making wild passionate love to her, and today she wanted to forget it again.

"Not about that." He growled, his body turned to face her, hers still facing the table, her legs turned further away from him. If she'd been on the edge of the booth she would have found a reason to leave, but right now that meant going past him.

She could smell his musky cologne over the brief gap between them. His hair was brushed back, tendrils of fringe falling into his intense and demanding blue eyes. He wore a short sleaved bonds shirt, and it clung to the muscles of his chest. Accenting what she had already seen and admired. He wasn't even holding a mug of coffee, like he usually would. All formality's had been skipped.

"Well then about what Jerk?" She spat out, trying to get rid of him with blunt rudeness where avoidance didn't seem to be working. He shifted closer, and skittishly she jerked her body further form him, her back coming in contact with the arcade wall. His eyes didn't even have their customary mocking humour in them, the emotions hidden deep within where to intense to be overwhelmed with anything as petty as humour.

"You know." He warned. She went to back away again and his left hand caught her bare knee below the table and refused to allow her movement. She flushed at the contact, remembering the things those same hands had done to her while in his apartment.

Her eyes jumped to his, pleading begging, wanting him to do it all over again. And she didn't even care that they where in the middle of the arcade. He ignored her look, though the anger seemed to soften away slowly as she stared desperately at him.

"Just talk to me." He said once more, sounding more like begging for the first time since they had met. He let out a reluctant breath and released her leg, his hand quickly brushing his fringe back. She waited until it had fallen back into his eyes before she tried at a clam and perhaps reasonable response. Not much came to mind however.

"Why don't you ask me something, and I'll answer. That way at least I'll know what you want me to say." She growled in reply, her eyes locking with his trying to convey the anger she felt for her current situation to him but he didn't seem fazed.

"Why did you leave?" He began bluntly, and she frowned. She had almost hoped he would ask something easy, but she reminded herself that it was Darien she was talking about and knew without a doubt that he would be anything but easy.

"I had places to be." She drawled out in response, her voice dropping in pitch.

"Like where?" He demanded, though his eyes had taken on a darker tone.

"Like, none of your business." Serena managed to snap, ignoring the heat in her body as he gazed at her in what she knew was hunger.

He went to say something, when a loud clang surprised them both. Automatically she felt herself shift away from him, not having realised she had approached, and she saw him do the same. Mentally she cringed for a mans he was trying to get rid of she had been getting awfully close.

A soft mew came from the table and Serena's attention jumped from her slight humiliation to the black cat that stared at her from the table.

"Luna." She stated carefully, the crescent moon a give away, but she absently wished she was wrong. She hadn't seen the cat for a while now, but then Luna had been doing something with central and Serena had been religiously avoiding the arcade.

"Your cat Meatball Head?" Darien interjected, his mocking tone back in place. Serena felt angry and her attention jumped to him, ready to reprimand him when she found her three friends standing at the edge of the booth frowning a little.

Before Serena could demand from them what they where doing anywhere near her they began.

"Gesh Darien, don't you have anything better to do then pick on Serena every day?" Lita demanded, her hand's going to her hips as her eyes narrowed. Amy behind her looked equally as angry, in her own right.

"I would have thought you above being so petty." The blue haired girl stated defiantly.

Raye was more upfront about her opinion then the others. "Go away Darien. You pick on Serena way to much." And with that Raye physically removed him from his seat beside Serena, Lita a step away ready to force him all the way away.

Serena felt his lose immediately, she hadn't been aware of it at first, but there was a strange energy to the air around him and she realised with a small flash of self loathing that she wanted to be in his company again. He titled his head to her ever so slightly and offered an apology to the others before strolling out of the arcade and she watched his exit with curious intensity. Her body willed her to go after him, her friends as they immediately sat beside and opposite her obviously willed her to stay.

She felt insulted on his behalf as well. It was uncommon for them to gang up on him like that, and for the first time ever he had not been there for a verbal sparing match. She turned her indignant feelings to the three girls who sat around her. Amy had taken the place by her side, Lita and Raye opposite her. Luna continued to watch Serena from the table top.

"Uh…" Serena paused, her eyes skipping from one friend to the other as she remembered that they where fighting. "Guys?" She asked tentatively uncertain of where this confrontation would take her. "I really have to help mum out with something today." She tried to motion Amy out of her seat but the blue haired scout seemed determined to remain in place.

"No." Amy stated clearly. "We need to say something first." Amy told her sternly, then her blue eyes turned to the other two. Raye sighed her surrender.

"Look Meatball Head, we're sorry for being so…" Raye paused on the edge of a word then frowned. "We're just sorry." She snapped after a long pause.

"We're your friends, and we don't want our friendship to deteriorate because of one thing, no matter what it is." Lita slammed her fist into the table to emphasise her point.

"I was going through the data of last nights fight with central and Luna, I didn't even know Zoicite was there until this morning. I shouldn't have acted like that anyway." Amy hung her head quickly, a blush staining her checks at the words.

Serena looked to find her two friends where watching her carefully, their eyes certain and waiting for her response with a little apprehension.

"Okay." Serena whispered, there was expectancy in their gaze's as if they suddenly expected she would surrender her secrets because of a few apologies. She stepped on the anger in herself, accepting the apology for what it was, although she doubted they needed to apologise to her at all. She knew she was the one being difficult. "Okay. I have to help my mother now. I'll see you all tomorrow. Here." She tapped the table to emphasise the point and rose to her feet.

Her response was perhaps less then adequate but Amy let her past and the other two said nothing as she walked once more out of the arcade.

Serena turned towards her house from the arcade, took three steps and stopped dead, her eyes locked on Darien's lean frame as he lent against a different shop window. His eyes where fixed on her, the instant message simple to read, she didn't get away from the situation that easily.

Serena gave a sigh of disappointment and went to walk past him. Instead he caught her arm and pulled her down the ally to the back of the arcade. She had only been there once before, but she guessed he had been there a few more times then that.

It took a second to make sure she was alone with him before she glared up at his frowning face.

"What now? I have to go home!"

He smiled at her sharp tone and glanced at his watch.

"On a Saturday, you have to be home before eleven am?" He raised a curious mocking eyebrow. When she went to turn away and leave in anger he caught her shoulders and pulled her to face him. "We need to talk."

"You keep saying that." She snapped angrily. "And it doesn't get either of us anywhere."

"Well let's actually talk this time." He growled at her, his eyes narrowed.

"Fine!" Serena shouted, her eyes locking on his lips , her mind recalling the wicked things they had managed to do to her not so long ago. "Let's talk!" She continued to shout. "Why don't you start Darien? Because personally I can't think of what there is to talk about!"

"You can't think?" He demanded, his glare fierce as he towered above her. "You stormed into my apartment two nights ago, we slept with each other and when I woke up you weren't there!"

"I had to get back to the temple, I had to explain away an eight hour absence as it was." She snapped, her eyes still lingering on his lips. She felt the energy between them brimming and tightening drawing her willing body closer to his although she did not breach the distance the tension seemed to build. "And who cares if I was there when you woke up? It's not like it meant anything to either of us!"

"We needed to talk!" He shouted in reply. His body shifted a little closer and her eyes darkened with determination once more.

"Screw talking." She growled and she let the tension tug her body to his, let herself forget that this was just the thing he was angry with her for. And just like the other night he responded automatically, his hands clinging to her and shifting her body tighter against his own.

Their lips delved against each others, tongues working magic as they warred with each other. Her hands clung to his shoulders, fingers curling around his tense shoulder blades and she tried to pull herself closer still. She felt his arousal as real as her own. The heat in her body burning away any rational thought process.

Abruptly he pulled away form her, his arm's locked straight holding her at a distance.

"We need to talk." He growled, his voice husky with the effort to sustain control.

"You place?" She asked, her bright eyes locked on his dark ones. A frown pulled at his expression and he looked down at her.

"No. Come to dinner with me tonight." He demanded.

"Your place?" She asked again, her body yearning to breach the distance between them again but he would not allow it.

"Serena." He stated bluntly and she calmed under the reprimand her eyes meeting his carefully.

"Come to dinner, at a restaurant." He persisted.

"I doubt anything we need to say can even be said at most restaurants… Maybe McDonalds, it's a restaurant right?" A small frown appeared as she considered it.

He laughed at her outright, the crinkles of mirth she was strangely used to seeing returning to the corners of his eyes.

"Just talk." He repeated, and his smile was disarmingly charming. "Otherwise we will never get control of what ever this is and deal with it." He took a shaky breath and released her, but she did not approach him.

"Okay. Dinner." She agreed, her head bobbing in acceptance her eyes a little worried. She wasn't certain what they would discuss, but he was right, the jerk, they needed to figure this out.

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Review! Please! I love reviews! Have I said thank you to all those kind people who have reviewed yet? Because I don't think I have gotten one bad reveiw for this entire story.

**Also! Much more imporantly. This will be my last update for about a month. I've worked really hard on it and tried to make it a bit longer then usual before I posted it. The story is getting soo close to finishing but I just have to put it aside for a while. My real life and work are suffering from too many hobbys and distractions. But the second I have my real life in order I'll be back. I give it a month to fail or work, but I wont be updating in that time. I do apologise for leaving you all hanging like this.**


	21. Twenty One: Progression

**Guess what?!? I didn't take a month off, in fact since writing that I've felt so un-obliged to write that I did (go figure). And I knew I was so close to the end of this story that I didn't want to stop. But I decided I'd write as much as I could before I posted any more, and it just so happens that I am almost finished!**

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**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XXI**

Serena stared at Darien across the table. His deep blue eyes where fixed on the menu before him, reading through it with a level of attention she deemed unnecessary. It felt more like studied avoidance then devote attention to food. She shifted her weight against the plush chair, her eyes moving about the restaurant. It was higher class then she would have guessed and she was a little dressed down for the experience since she hadn't put very much effort into getting ready for the dinner.

_Not much effort indeed._ She snorted at herself. She had spent hours sorting through her clothes, trying to pick what would make her most appealing to him again since he had managed to fend her off in the alley. It was a matter of pride, she kept telling herself, to make him want her again, it wasn't as if she actually wanted him. In the end, having no idea where they where going she had settled for a long skirt and a nice top, all in all, she didn't blend perfectly, but she didn't stand out like a soar thumb.

"Are you going to look at the menu at all?" Darien asked, eyes not rising from the menu before him. Visibly she scowled at him and flicked her menu open. She didn't look at the price's, he would pay, it had been his stupid idea to go somewhere so he would pay. The food all sounded exotic and a bit beyond her tastes, she was used to shakes and hamburgers at the arcade and her mothers cooking, not the things listed before her. The only positive thought she had as she read the menu was that he had just admitted to being aware of her presence, it was a start.

When the waiter arrived Serena ordered quickly, and ordered as much as she thought she could. After all she deserved something for lying to her parents so well that night. She guessed her mother knew though, because her mother wasn't a complete idiot, and girls usually didn't spend hours trying to decide what to wear to go to the movies with their friends. But her mother had let her go, that look of worry that hadn't left her eyes over the last few weeks more intense then usual.

She didn't hear Darien order, but the second the waiter walked away she heard the silence. Or more to the point the silence that ensnared them and didn't affect any of the other patrons. The rest of the restaurant murmured in the back ground, a soft music hanging in the air around them. No one else seemed aware of the tense silence that lingered so near by.

She felt Darien go to talk, then stop. Her eyes moved about the restaurant again unwilling to look at him. There couldn't be any real conversation over this meal, she knew it, anything they had to say to each other would have to be said in privet, no matter how much he detested the idea. A little smirk came to her lips, wondering if it was because he didn't trust his self restraint as much as he would like to. That thought pleased her.

"We're here to talk." Serena began for him, her eyes fixing on the clock just beyond his head. Her breathing was calm, almost effected by their mellow surroundings.

"Yeah we are." Darien replied just as uncertain but desperate to keep the conversation going now it had began.

"Do you even know what you wanted to talk about?" She asked bluntly, feeling a little put out by his poor attempt at a response. Her eyes turned to face him, looking away from the clock. Strands of thick black hair fell into his midnight eyes, eyes that where focused intently on her. And even the table between them didn't make her feel more secure. There was something possessive in his expression that made her feel if she didn't get away she would be bound for eternity to him.

"Yeah." He replied softly, his eyes shifted from her, and the tension of his gaze evaporated before he was looking back at her. A small grin played at the sides of his lips and she desperately wondered what he was thinking. "I know what I want to talk about, but I'm going to guess you do to."

"Is this your way to make me start the conversation?" She snapped a little agitated by his grin, it threatened to make her feel happier, and she did not want to do that.

"Probably." He responded his grin calming a little, the sparkle in his eye's still there. "But then you seem to be starting everything else." He added, and she saw the serious undertones in his expression just as she heard it in his voice.

"Well, you weren't going to do it." She managed, her fingers idly twisting the cloth napkin.

"There's probably a reason for that." He countered.

"Well if it's the whole age thing." Serena didn't meet his eyes for those words, finding the napkin far more interesting as she continued to toy with it. "I mean-" The words froze at the back of her throat, feeling a little helpless, she had thought a lot of it through since the event, she had thought of little else. "Well it's already happened now hasn't it." She demanded a little angrily. She couldn't understand, if that where his problem, why he would really care. It wasn't like it had been their first time together, it had already happened, in her mind it didn't matter if it happened again.

"Serena." He whispered, and her eyes jumped up to met his. She was surprised when he was blurry and realized with a flinch of horror that tears where threatening her again. She blinked them fiercely and they retaliated by sliding down her checks. Her shaking hand brushed them aside.

"Am I that bad?" She asked him desperately, staring into that blank expression again, but managing to find a little consolation in it. "Am I?" She begged with more desperation. His hand moved across the table and settled over her fidgety one, crushing the napkin below them.

"No, your not." He returned honestly, and she could see the honesty in his face. "I am." He breathed out harshly. "It shouldn't have happened the first time, but I was drunk. The second time-" He paused his brows drawing together. "-I have no excuse, it just shouldn't have happened." She saw self resentment creeping into his eyes and her left hand settled over the hand that had captured her right.

"I didn't give you much of a choice." She countered, wanting to battle that self resentment from his features, it just seemed to wrong to be there. He shook his head, still not looking at her directly.

"That doesn't matter, it shouldn't have happened. I was just so frazzled when you showed up."

"Had you just woken up from a dream of memories?" She teased, and absently he nodded in reply. She felt a frown pull, frazzled would probably describe how she had felt upon waking as well. It had completely thrown her to get those memory's back in such a hit. She wondered why the memory's had manifested themselves as they had, but did not get much thought into the matter before she was staring into his questioning eyes.

"Is that why you where there?" He asked, his voice pitched low. "Because the same had happened to you?" He was frowning the smallest frown of concentration and so transfixed with the expression she nodded just as absently as he had done previously. "What did you dream of last night?" He asked carefully. It was the care that brought her attention back, he looked deep in thought.

"I don't remember." She admitted.

"Neither do I." Was the dark reply, and she was surprised to find his expression so changed, it was now possessed of far more dark lines and shadows then before. In an alarming way he reminded her of Tuxedo Mask at that moment, all shadows and secrets. At least Tuxedo Mask before he had lost his crystals, recently he had seemed different.

To break her chain of thought she forced the next words out. "Well what is it then? What's so wrong with what happened between us?"

"Serena there was no love, it was wrong. It was-" He meet her eyes then, and although there was expression there she couldn't read it. "It was your first time wasn't it?" He blurted out suddenly, and she had no way to respond but how she usually would to Darien.

"Was it yours?" She demanded, unwilling to answer that question if he didn't already know. But she could see in his eyes that he knew, and she didn't understand why he had to ask. He looked away from her a second after the question was asked, and she couldn't decipher his response. Forcefully she bit into the insides of her checks, it hurt that she probably wasn't his first and she didn't understand that either. She had seen so many girls fawning over him during their acquaintance and it boiled inside her that he could have bedded any number of them, because they had all seemed willing.

"Yes." He chocked out suddenly. He was looking out over the rest of the crowd, his attention apparently riveted on something trivial. "It's fair that you know, since I know it was yours."

"How gallant of you." She responded with sarcasm, glad he wasn't looking at her, because she suddenly couldn't look at him either. She felt better, strangely, knowing that what had happened between them wasn't a common thing for him. Because it had shaken her world to pieces it made her feel a little better knowing it had had some impact on him.

"If I had been sober-" He began and she swung her head to face him again.

"My mother once said that being drunk is just an excuse. That your still accountable for your actions." She sounded like a petulant child, and nearly cringed, referring to her mother was hardly going to convince him of maturity.

"I'm not saying I'm not. I just didn't want it to happen like that." His calm response was followed by a silent pause as she let the words soak in.

"What?" She squeaked when she realised what he meant. He didn't flinch at her tone of voice, his eyes serious.

"I'm attracted to you Serena, I have been for ages. And it hardly surprise's me that coming across you while drunk I would try and seduce you. But I would never have wanted it to happen like that, and I'm sorry. I like you too much as a person to not regret how this happened."

Her poleaxed silence was interrupted only when the waiter walked over and put the food on the table asking annoying questions that Darien waved away, his eyes never leaving her expression.

Serena went through turmoil as time moved on and the silence stretched. What he had said, it made her want to blush like mad, to think that he was actually attracted to her, despite what had happened it seemed strange to hear that. She had began to think of the Darien before that night as a different person to the one sitting before her, but his admittance that even before the night he had wanted her drove into home that they where one and the same. But then she had other things to think about, that he liked her, as a person, was even more of a shocker for her befuddled mind. They had done nothing but fight since the beginning, and she could see attraction brimming beneath that because she too had felt twinges of attraction when she wasn't fiercely declaring her hatred of him. But to like someone as a person, she was almost certain that implied friendship of some level.

Desperately she tried to see friendship between snide comments and fierce arguments but it all seemed so alien. At a distance he had always seemed nice, interesting in his own right. His silent little world inhabited only by his body and thoughts and only occasionally interrupted by the ever perky Andrew, and the flirtatious Raye. But she felt no real friendship for him. Envy, yes, for his solitude, something she didn't even have when at home since she had gotten her cat guardian, yet he could have that solitude in the middle of an arcade of screaming children. Perhaps admiration as well, because he was everything she wasn't, he was smart always studying and passing his exams, he had the attention of every girl who saw him, the way he could exist without the help of others, when she needed that company, and their was a subtle strength that existed around him and no one else.

"I guess-" she began, realising that he was awaiting her response his eyes fixed on her, making her feel uncomfortable. "I never really had anything against you." She mumbled, feeling inferior to him once more, because he had been attracted to her before they slept with each other, and she had barely thought of him in such a way. It made her feel a little cheaper then before.

"What?" He teased flashing her a melting smile. "Didn't you fawn over me and dream about me naked?"

She flushed a bright red at the question, her eyes bulging at such a blatant sexual statement. "No I didn't." She hissed in reply, her face a bright crimson as her eyes jumped about to see if anyone was in ear's shot, but no one deemed to be paying attention.

"I did for you." He replied smoothly, his eyes a little darker. It was funny that although she had entered his car that afternoon with every intent of seducing him into wanting her, that she was suddenly so nervous under his gaze. And he was doing it intentionally, she wasn't stupid enough to think otherwise.

"Well okay, I thought you where cute…" She watched the wisps of black hair that slid about his eyes, framing them to perfection. Then stared at that perfect changing blue of his eyes, darker then usual but still blue, the almost teasing grin that was also softer then usual. She swallowed and looked down at her plate, the food simmering, waiting for her attention. "Okay, maybe…" She smiled a little. "maybe a little sexy." She blushed furiously at the words finding it funny again that although they had slept with each other twice now saying something like that was extremely trying on her nerves. And it was true, he was sexy, but it was also the first time she had ever admitted it to herself or out loud. She sighed in resignation under his watchful amusement. "And I guess, you where always nice, as a person, to everyone but me, and I liked that." She bit into her lower lip. "I always liked the person you where when we weren't fighting."

"Good." Was his only response before he began eating and she took her que from him the conversation over with an odd sort of truce hanging in the air.

Serena tried to control the key in her trembling hand, wanting to get into the house and upstairs with as few questions as possible. She knew her mother was probably still awake, her father oblivious as usual wouldn't have stayed up. Silent curses escaped her and she stopped, calming her shaking body and demanding control. She was Sailor Moon, and if she couldn't control her hand long enough to get a forsaken key into her front door there was no hope for the world.

It was all his fault of course. Well maybe not his fault, but she wanted to blame him. They had gotten through dinner tolerably well, her eyes only wondering to him from time to time. But the second they had left the building there had no longer been prying eyes to discourage her and she couldn't help but walk that little bit closer to him then necessary while they walked to the car. Nor could she resist the smirk when he had responded to her subtle advances. 

And somewhere along the road they had pulled up and fallen into each others arms just as readily as they had every other time. Only this time she had known it was the combined effort of both of them that had them in such a situation. And when all was said and done they had straightened up their clothes and continued the drive, both of them shaken, even she could see his trembling hands tight on the steering wheel.

She steadied her nerves forcing herself to settle those nerves he had uprooted. The last thing she needed was to be questioned by her mother. Slowly the trembling's in her hand's subsided and the key followed the path to the keyhole. Her shoulders relaxed when the key slipped in. And it was then she felt eyes upon her, watching her intently. She twisted her head to glance down the street, her fingers lingering against the key, weary as she always was in the dark. Her breathing speed a little, ribbons of adrenaline ready to lace through her the second she confirmed the presence she sensed. But no where on the street could she find life and that irked her enough to calm the frayed nerves.

Silently she turned the key, the corner of her eye fixed on the street as she stepped though, closing the door calmly. She saw her mother sitting in the lounge room, a magazine opened before her. Serena gave a smile to her mother which was returned before she went up to her room. Passively closing her windows and locking her door, ignoring the cat that watched her from the end of the bed with curiosity.

Serena dropped her clothes to the floor, too tired to change, not really minding the smell of him that lingered against her. She then snuggled in under her blankets and as always sleep refused to come.

Serena watched her friends as they chatted amongst themselves. She had made herself late on purpose, she absolutely refused to be trapped in the booth for questioning again. She could have stunned them all by being there early, lack of sleep did wonders for your punctuality.

When she had arrived they had asked her a few trivial questions before continuing their gossiping, perhaps knowing that if she was inclined she would join in. It was the first time around them in a long time she didn't feel like she was being pushed around or left with a sense of overpowering guilt. It was still a little cold though, sitting in silence while her friends continued to chatter, she felt detachment creeping up on her again.

"I'll-" She began, gaining all three girl's attention. "I'm gong to go get a drink." She mumbled sliding out of the booth, she stopped before walking away and turned a smile onto them all. "You guy's want anything?" Each of the girls looked at their own food and drinks, then slowly shook their heads in a no.

She felt their eyes on her as she approached the counter and waited for Andrew to finish with another customer. The second he was done he popped up before her with his customary smile.

"What can I get for you today Serena?" The smile never dulled, and she smiled calmly in response to it.

"Just a coke, please."

His head bobbed in confirmation as he turned to fetch the requested drink. When he handed her the drink she smiled at him and turned around on her stool.

She nearly screeched in shock when she discovered Darien standing about a foot away from her. Instead the drink managed to slip from instantly numb fingers. The shattering of glass filled the arcade and conjured immediate silence. Darien jumped back from the mess quickly, putting a more respectable distance between them and Serena gapped in shock.

She couldn't believe she had just dropped a drink, she couldn't believe Darien had been standing that close to her and she had been unaware of it, and she couldn't believe that her thoughts had already progressed past sticky feet and shattered glass to strong muscles and sweaty activities.

Her best defence against the bombardment of desire, she knew, was anger. "Darien! You jerk! Look what you made me do!" Dramatically she gestured at the mess laying between them, a physical barrier she was appreciative off.

He recovered from shock quickly. "Me?" He asked incredulously staring at her in disbelief, then after another pause gave a mocking chuckle. "Please Meatball Head, as if you needed help being a klutz."

It actually hurt, she hated that, it had never hurt before when he insulted her so smoothly. But right then she could hardly tell if he was acting for the behalf of a crowd who did not need to know their relationship had changed, or if he meant it. In many ways she suspected the later, despite everything, there was no love, just attraction, and you could hate someone and still want them.

"Why you insufferable jerk-" She hissed.

"What? Using big words again Meatball Head? I'm impressed."

"It doesn't take much to impress you though does it." Her eyes shifted to Raye waiting for him to follow her gaze before she smirked at him. He looked angrier when he glanced back, and she was just glad Raye didn't seem to notice, her eyes where squinted with interest towards them but the implication was lost on her.

"No I guess it doesn't." He bit out, his eyes moving over her body quickly. His meaning quite obvious and her resentment towards him seemed to be double what it ever had been before the physical had become a part of their relationship.

"Just as well, cause I doubt you impress half as much as you think. And you know. Beggar's can't be-"

"That's it!"

Serena and Darien, along with most of the arcade, turned their eyes to Andrew who was glaring at the two with immeasurable anger.

"This place has been quite for the last couple of weeks, I refuse to allow it to become a cockfight again just because you two can't get along for a few minutes." His fists where on his hips eyes demanding a response from them

Serena gave a little laugh to herself feeling almost angry with Andrew for interrupting her come back. "What do you mean?" She screeched as loud as she could. "It's the jerks fault!" She pointed wilding in Darien's general direction. "If he'd just keep his mouth to himself there wouldn't be a problem now would there?" The words, as innocently as they where meant brought some interesting images to her mind. _No he can't keep his mouth to himself._ A cheeky grin broke through her defences at the thought and she found herself the object of intense scrutiny from Andrew. She flushed immediately, foolishly afraid that he knew the thoughts going through her head. His eyebrow rose at the blush and those inquisitive eyes went back to Darien.

She didn't dare turn around and see what his reaction had been, afraid to give herself away further.

"Right you two." Andrew sounded the same, angry, but his expression had changed. "Out the back." He motioned towards the employee's only door.

Serena didn't move at first, staring at the door with uncertainty. If Andrew had an inkling then she didn't want to be alone near him. The hand that touched the side of her arm nearly made her shout out in shock.

"No point arguing with Andrew, Meatball Head." Darien muttered, the light touch sliding off her arm as he walked for the door and disappeared through it. She was still frozen, riveted on the spot with uncertainty. She met Andrews eyes trying to keep the pleading out.

"Do you want to be banned from the Arcade?" Andrew asked casually. Serena frowned sharply at him and stormed past, pausing only for a moment to glance back at her gaping friends before walking through the door and hearing it latch closed behind her.

Instantly she was grabbed and pulled against Darien familiar body, his lips closing over hers with a ferocity that seemed like instinct. His lips moved quickly, her mind a buzz, her eyes locked on the door they had walked through.

"Tell me that was an act." He demanded off her, unaffected by the possibility of Andrews entrance. His kiss's started getting deeper, trailing over her and she couldn't quite concentrate or get over her fear of intrusion.

"Don't sneak up on me like that." She demanded trying to push him away. He refused to budge, his body bending, his mouth closing over the bottom of her colour bone, his tongue sliding across it.

"Don't worry." He told her sternly when she tried to pull away again. "He only sends people back here when his going to lock them in." He assured, but she still wasn't convinced and when she pushed him away and walked to the door she was surprised to find it locked.

She grinned the impish part of her nature finding the moment to it's liking. Then turned to him, that grin still in place. "How long do we have?" She asked sultrily and he caught her up, again his lips descending against hers.

"Long enough." He growled into her ear before nipping it. She shuddered her hands twisting into his shirt and seeking out skin. His own doing the same, but much more effectively, unlatching her shirt buttons with skill.

It was as he kissed her heatedly, exploring her throat and chest that she heard the most intrusive noise of her existence. She gasped sharply, his fingers sliding down her skirt and the noise came again.

"Do you take that everywhere?" He teased and she remembered he had heard it before.

"Shit." She growled. "Shit." The noise persisted. "Stop." She ordered sharply, his hand continued to explore and she shoved his shoulder fiercely. "I said stop." She ordered once more, and his eyes met hers a little confused, but he moved away from her his breaths forced and fast. She clasped her shirt buttoning the middle button to conceal herself a little. He turned sharply, walking across the room before leaning against a bench, his fists curling around the edge. Her hand fumbling in her bag, her eyes fixed on his bunched shoulder muscles, her own breathing as affected as his.

She pulled the communicator out, pressing the button that flashed at her. Automatically she turned her back to Darien, pulling the object closer and stared at the face that flashed up. Amy as Sailor Mercury blinked her frown dissolving.

"The park, hurry." Was all she whispered before the connection was terminated. Serena shoved the communicator into her bag again, fingers catching at her button's and doing a few more up quickly as she moved for the door. She felt Darien tense and turn to face her as she yanked at the door handle. She suddenly remembered, when the door refused to budge that they where locked in. That was when panic took hold. Fiercely she slammed her fist against the solid door.

"Andrew!" She screamed fiercely if she took too long to reach the battle there was no saying what damage could be wrought. "Andrew!" She continued without a pause. "Let me out of here right now!" There must have been something desperate to her tone, something of the panic in her body that was personified in her voice because she heard the muttering on the other side of the door in seconds.

Immediately she felt Darien moving, not towards her, perhaps fixing the shirt she had rumpled for him.

"Andrew I'm not kidding!" She continued to shout, wondering if it did any good to rush him but feeling the seconds tick by alarmingly.

The door swung open a second latter, and she dashed past Andrew not hearing what ever he attempted to shout after her. She ignored the fact that her shirt was half undone still, her body set to the task of getting her to the park with more speed then her human form could offer.

Serena, decked in her Sailor Moon form, skidded into the battle with a lack of grace she was by far accustomed to. Amy looked at her quickly, relief evident in her features, before looking back down at her palm sized computer.

"What have we got?" She asked, oddly perky about the ability to beat the crap out of a Youma that had interrupted her. She shouldn't have asked of course, because not to far ahead of her she could see it. A creep ran up her spine, the Negaverse had abandoned it's 'almost human' Youma faze, because the one that Raye and Lita where fighting against towered over them, an extra three feet in height, sky blue skin and a skimpy little outfit that declared it not only a poor judge in fashion but entirely alien.

"It's a-" What ever else Amy was going to say was cut short by an energy blast that slammed her across the field and into a near by lamp-post.

"Mercury!" Serena shouted out in shock, her eyes quickly skipping from the Scout of water to the Youma who had harmed her. She had no doubt that Amy was little more then bruised, they had all taken such blasts before, but on top of her frustration that this Youma had interrupted her it fuelled Serena into relentless battle.

With quick effortless motions, Serena drew her tiara forwards, focused her energy into the weapon and let it fly in a smooth arch to the enemy. The weapon sliced through the Youma was a precision that was hardly likely, the creature disintegrating into moon dust immediately, leaving the two uninjured Scouts gapping in shock.

Raye and Lita froze for several seconds, staring at Serena until Amy managed to groan out something. Instantly the two girls sprung to their fallen comrades side checking her injuries.

Serena turned from the battle feeling no better then she had upon entering it. Her frustration still lingered, her friend had been mildly harmed, and the battle had taken so short a time she was considering writing a letter of complaint to the Negaverse.

It surprised her when her vision was blocked but black and white. She blinked, found it was still there and in the form of a shirt and cape, and looked up to meet the masked crusaders face. It was rather surprising, almost unsettling that he was there. After all, he had no part in the battle, he hadn't shown up, he hadn't saved the day, and when he did that he rarely lingered. But there he was standing before her, the frown obvious above the mask, staring at her.

"Can I help you?" Serena asked wearily.

"I see you've made up with your friends." The voice was light but the frown was still there.

"Not really." She responded shortly, a glance over her shoulder showed them to still be fawning over Amy. "It's not healed, I don't think it's even got a bandage, maybe a bandaid but that's it." She gave a sigh. "It wont heal either." She whispered cryptically.

"You wont let it?" His deep voice resonated around her and she nodded absently.

"I don't think I can." She looked up to meet his eyes and was disappointed again by the blank mask that stared at her. She might not have had much with Darien, but she had his eyes, and that was something she had always liked about him.

"I think we should talk." He stated suddenly, voice void of the deep undertones he usually used making him sound so human it was disturbing.

"Funny." She responded nervous with the change in him. And it wasn't just his voice she realised it was his entire manner. "Everyone seems to be saying that these days." She thought of Darien again, she'd left him not that long ago without a word of excuse without a word of goodbye and she felt guilty for that exit. But she had been needed and what ever she had with Darien when compared to the lives of her friends it was nothing. She wondered how she would explain that sudden departure, then wondered why she would, but the guilt was undeniable.

"Maybe their right." He continued taking a step closer. The oddities in his behaviour made her take a step back in retaliation. His left brow rose, his lips twisting in an odd smile before the his face settled into a charming smile. That alone scared her senseless, this wasn't the same man she had been confiding in the night before.

"Maybe their all too full of themselves and theirs nothing to talk about." She snapped. When he went to take another step closer she raised her hand between them glaring at him. "Don't." Her demand was met with his puzzlement. "I don't know you." She told him clearly. "Your not Tuxedo Mask." Her chin rose in defiance, that hand still between them. His smile became more genuine.

"I am. But your right, you don't know me." He rubbed the side of his face, watching her closely. "But I know you." His hand reached out gently past her own and brushed the side of her face. Then in a flourish of black and red he was gone.

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**Remember to Review! Please! Please! Reviews make my day and when I'm having a good day I find writing those final few scenes soo much easier.**


	22. Twenty Two: Realisations

**Grrr I finaly got this bit done. I stuggle a lot with the battle scenes, and it probably shows that I have no real interest in writing them, but I hope there still okay.**

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**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XXII**

"But I know you." Serena muttered in angry defiance, staring at the elevator lights as they slowly progressed. It had to be the most cryptic frightening thing he had ever said.

Serena stomped her feet, trying to rid herself of the building agitation. Nothing seemed to be working properly for her, and here she was waiting for the lift to deliver her to the fate her sense of guilt was leading her too.

It chimed it's arrival at the appropriate floor and she disembarked, Tuxedo Mask going through her head. He had been different, entirely, and the more she thought on it he hadn't been threatening just different and the change had come out of no where so it frightened her. Maybe without the mask it wouldn't have been half so bad because she would have been able to see what it was that he was thinking. She was very good at reading emotions in the way the eye shade changed or the changing shape's they had.

Pushing thoughts of Tuxedo Mask aside she steadied herself for the approaching scene. This was not going to be pretty but that stupid guilt gnawing at her insides demanded she do this. Besides she didn't want Darien to hold anything against her, because he was just stubborn enough to pull of a break in contact.

She went to knock on the door but it swung open before her hand touched the wood.

"Expecting someone?" Serena demanded as tartly as she could, a little disoriented by the interruption, already her plan was wrong. All her plans had started with her knocking on the door, most of them had ended with the hope that the door wouldn't open, but even in those plans she had knocked.

"Yes." His voice was warm, and before she could responded he had caught her raised hand and gently drawn her into the apartment, closing the door behind them. Her eyes moved about the apartment again, carefully.

"Is there anyone else here?" Was her cautious question.

Lips closed over the side of her neck, his front pressing firm against her back. She closed her eyes to appreciate the sensation before he drew away his lips trailing up to her ear, hot breath brushing against her. "No one ever is." He whispered.

She went to turn around to face him and he caught her, preventing the movement as his lips continued their trek about her neck. He brushed her hair out of his way and pressed a quick kiss to the back of her neck, his other hand still holding her back firmly to him.

"What are you doing?" Serena asked breathlessly. This felt so different to the three other times she had been in his arms. The small caresses, the tenderness, none of it felt the same but she liked the difference. It felt so much more intimate the way his hands moved about her exploring what they already knew and she let him go, appreciating the attention.

A swirl of white's and blacks, vivid oranges and blues, shimmering reds and greens. Every colour danced past her eyes but they where all dulled in the presence of whites and blacks that dominated everything around them with passive authority. The word around her was spinning, or perhaps she was spinning while the world remained still. And all she could do was laugh in joy, because which ever way it went she knew she was getting the better deal.

Hands held her firm about the waist, and what ever was happening it was happening to the man before her as well, except her wasn't laughing like her, but she could see love in his dark eyes. There was such familiarity in their contact though they tried to hide it. Only the others knew how familiar the two where and it would not do well to let anyone else know.

He smiled at her, and she marvelled that she alone could draw forth that smile, a true smile, one that would linger for days and be reborn when memory offered its first moment of existence. She owned his smile's of perfection and cradled them to her soul with all the care of a woman so in love her life had become void except in his presence.

Another laugh bubbled from her throat, and the world stopped spinning, only to start again when those lips familiar lips closed over her own drawing her breath into his warm mouth. And no one was looking, and she didn't care because the world had begun to spin, and this time she knew she wasn't moving because he was there to hold her still, to hold her safe.

The next moment she was spinning again, spinning away from him but his hand still clasped her own, and before the connection could be broken her drew her back arm's enfolding her once more.

She bit into her bottom lip, risking a glance about at the swirling hues of others company, but no one but her mother was watching her and her smile bloomed when she saw no disproval in those caring eyes. Her smile broke into a grin her eyes returning to the man before her, and she saw too he had a brighter smile on, as if he understood what had just occurred.

Something whispered to her, the colours about her fading to dull grey's his figure still black and sharp before her, but the contact of his fingers felt lose and yielding. She cried out in shock trying to clasp at his image and her fingers passed through it.

Sharp pain ripped through Serena tearing her from the dream, her body jolting upwards with a warriors instinct, grabbing the offending weapon and throwing it across the room. She heard a dull thud and a screech, before her eyes focused on the black bundle that glared at her from the floor. She almost smiled, but thought the better of it, cat's where always so funny when they where rumpled because they did everything in their power to pretend it hadn't happened.

Confusion occurred before she even began speaking, her eyes skiting about the room and found that indeed she was where she thought she was, in Darien's bed once more. He however wasn't there.

"That's the first sleep I've had in ages and you interrupt it by trying to scratch me to death?" Serena demanded of the cat. It occurred to her though, that she had managed to sleep the night she had come to Darien's apartment.

"It's a school day tomorrow." Luna responded sharply, her eyes snapping about the room in agitation. Serena noted the cat's fur was on end, and doubted it was from being thrown across the room unceremoniously.

"So?" She honestly couldn't see the problem but by Luna's glare she was obviously meant to.

"Your mother was worried!" Was Luna's second attempt at reason. Serena looked out the window and found it was dark already. She gave a yawn her eyes searching out a clock. The numbers read a little before 11 pm, and her sleep riddled mind refused to contemplate how many hours she had been asleep.

"So what did you tell her?"

"What did I tell her?" Luna screeched. "I'm a cat Serena I didn't tell her anything!"

Serena looked at Luna sceptically, she was being far to placid. If her mother had been scared to death by her absence she was sure Luna would have at least torn her eyes out already.

"I had the scouts call your house and say that you four had been shopping all day, you had collapsed on Lita's lounge at about seven and weren't showing any signs of waking." Luna's eyes did not show forgiveness or even happiness. "They where frantic about you when I asked them to do that. They tried every trick they could think of to make me talk." Luna shook her head, eyes dark. "I wont lie to them, its not right. They are your friends and you shouldn't lie to them either. The scouts where more then friends in the silver millennium they where closer to sisters. And they are worried and helpless because they know the more they try and find out what's wrong the further you pull from them."

Serena bit into her lip, staring at the cat who watched her intently.

"I need you to tell them." Luna admitted, looking old even for a cat. "Not for the scouts, but for your friendship. All their doing is what you would have done in their situation. They all love you and maybe at first they wont react how you want them to, but in the end they'll still love you." Luna padded across the thick blankets and butted her head against Serena's arm reassuringly. "Tell them." She pleaded softly and Serena crumbled, her arm's closing in around the cat, fingers burying into soft black fur, her head resting against the cats.

"Okay." Serena replied, her grip comfortingly tight around the surprised cat. "I'll tell them, I promise. Tomorrow after school, I'll tell them." And she swore it to herself a hundred fold releasing the cat back onto the blankets, blinking back her tears. She had been far to emotional recently.

"Serena." The cat began more cautiously this time. Serena looked down at the cat, prepared for what ever lecture came. "I've been busy with central lately, we never had a chance to talk properly about all of this." Luna's expression scrunched, her body shifting from paw to paw.

"Luna?" Serena asked a little worried. The guardian of the sailor scouts rarely looked uncomfortable.

"Have you considered the possibility of pregnancy, and such?" The cat blurted out fiercely, her expression looking abashed at having to ask. Serena blinked at the cat a couple of times crediting the question for it's honesty and for it's intelligence. She bit down into her bottom lip staring at the cat. She had considered the possibility but she had brushed it aside. Again she closed her eyes letting her senses spread then drew them deep within herself, searching for the answer to her guardians question. She smiled slightly when she was certain and sent that smile down to the cat.

"I'm not pregnant." She told it certainly. Luna raised a sceptic eyebrow.

"You have to do tests to be certain, I know it hasn't been long, but it's better to know now." The cat persisted.

Serena gave a laugh and caught the cat's face between her palms. "I'm not pregnant Luna. I can feel it. I just know if there was life in me, if something was growing in me I'd know it." Luna went to protest and Serena caught her mouth closed. "Listen to me this once Luna. I'm not pregnant, and even if I am we would know in due time." Serena shook her head at the cat, her guardian was an endearing little thing. "Now go home and rest, you look fatigued.

"And leave you here on your own?" Luna demanded shocked.

"I can hardly explain my cat's presence in his apartment now can I?" Serena teased in response.

"Let's go to one of the girls house's then." The cat attempted futilely.

Serena shock her head in a no. "I'm comfortable, and I can honestly feel real sleep in my system. Just let me sleep the rest of the night out here, it wont hurt anyone." And without waiting for a response from the cat she had dug herself beneath the heavy blankets and snuggled deeper down. She never heard Luna leave, but she felt it.

A few minutes latter another body slid in beside her own, and feigning sleep she snuggled against it. Pleased with the arms that snaked around her and pulled her closer.

"Serena."

"Go away." Serena mumbled.

"Serena." The voice repeated softly. Serena felt hands on her and pushed gently against the body attached to them.

"I don't want to get up." A deep chuckle echoed after her words.

"I cooked you breakfast." The voice persisted, a little louder this time.

"I'm not hungry." She retaliated.

"That's got to be a first."

Even in sleep Serena could detect the mocking in the voice and her eyes snapped open a fierce retort pushing through the haze of her mind. The retort stopped the moment her eyes came into focus on a pair of laughing blue eyes.

"What?" She chocked out even as her mind caught up to her. Her body relaxed. "Oh. Darien." And she went to roll over and fall back asleep.

"You have to get up for school." He informed her still sounding amused. Serena mumbled something about not caring about school before she actually progressed past mulish sleep to consciousness.

"What?" She screeched, her body jerking upright, sheets tumbling off her body. Her eyes jumped about for the clock she had found the night before. Thin rays of sunlight filtered through the windows curtains, illuminating the numbers. And she groaned. "It's way to early!" She snapped, facing him angrily. "You wake up the first good sleep I've had since-" she stopped and bit into her check, she did not want to tell him that, but his raised eyebrow suggested he already knew. "Since… well forever, and I don't even have to be a school for two hours."

"You do realise your making me reconsider letting you our of this house within the next twenty-four hours, siting there like that." A smile played on his lips and she glanced down at herself to see what he meant. With a shriek she yanked the blankets up over her body glaring at him fiercely, and she was rewarded with his laugh. His expression stilled and he bent down, leaning his face close to hers. "You look gorgeous of a morning." He murmured smoothly, his finger tracing her bare shoulder blade then slipping down her spine. And before she could do more then shiver he had left the room, latching the door behind him.

She slummed the moment he was gone, the blankets tumbling back to her lap forgotten. It was one thing for him to see her naked in the middle of sex, but in the early light of day it felt like quite another thing and it was something she knew she wasn't ready for.

She lifted herself out of the bed taking the thick coverlet with her. She wrapped it firmly about herself like a toga her free arm hugging it to her body. Just in case she glanced about the bedroom floor but she trusted her memory enough to know that her clothes had been scattered about the living room the night before.

When she entered the living room she found Darien standing out on the balcony illuminated by the morning's twilight. She stopped by the lounge watching his pensive form with interest. He was slumped over against the railing his back to her, his hair slightly tousled by the gentle morning breeze. Her breathing slowed to conceal her presence, eyes fixed on him. He racked a hand through his hair, settling it into a slight neater configuration before letting that hand fall back to the railing. That same hand gripped onto the edge of the railing, released, then gripped again, his knuckles turning white with the tension.

Serena wet her lips, yanking her eyes away from him, silently moving about the room to retrieve her clothing knowing the dull shuffle of her feet would be heard but doubting it would draw him from his thoughts.

She dressed quickly after that, taking a quick shower in his bathroom, trying not to touch anything but unable to help herself when she got back into the bedroom. The house was so barren that the one picture frame on his bedside table beckoned her to look at it closely. With a shaking finger she traced the figures in the picture unable to fathom what they meant but knowing deep inside that it could mean nothing but pain. So she put the picture back down, threw his blanket back onto his bed and left the room, ignoring the impulse inside that told her to ask about the picture. We are not attached and I don't want to know. She told herself firmly.

With that uncertain resolve she walked back into the living room to find he had moved from the balcony and was sitting on one of the chairs, waiting for her. She could tell he was waiting because the moment she entered the room the book he had been holding was closed and his eyes where fixed on her.

"I have to go, get my uniform and stuff." She excused turning promptly to the exit.

"Wait." His voice was so full of pleading she couldn't help but stop. She heard him rise but she would not turn around just yet. She felt awkward in his presence. He seemed to be reaching for something, and after last night she wasn't sure what it was because everything had felt different when they made love. An involuntary shudder went through her, it terrified her, because it was the first time that it had felt like he was making love to her, not just sex. And although her experiences where few the difference was so astounding she couldn't question the deduction.

He stepped before her, his hand sliding beneath her chin and raising her eyes to meet his. She saw a softness there he had never shown before, and gently his lips met hers. The caress soft, promising, and achingly sweet. It delved into her soul, searching for answers and all she could do was let it respond to him, her body unmoving under his silent questioning her insides tingling with confusion. And he stepped back, his fingers slipping from beneath her chin in a final caress before he silently walked away from her.

She turned to see him walk through the balcony doors once more, the light a little brighter now, shinning against his ravens hair. She tried to breath, only managing silent shallow breaths then turned, walked to his door and walked out.

Serena remained silent through class's that day, contemplating her promise to Luna. She had no intentions of backing out on it, she would tell the others, the cat had applied to her sense of loyalty and that seemed to outweigh even her stubbornness.

She responded when the teacher asked her a question, still receiving that odd look that suggested she shouldn't be answering correctly but ignoring it. She even responded the few times Molly tried to talk to her. Amy and Lita kept their silence and their distance, surprised when she sat with them during lunch and concerned when she told them they had to talk after school. And she summoned Raye on the communicator to tell her about the meeting after school.

When she arrived at the school gates she found all three of them, standing together in silence. And in that same silence they walked to the park, the arcade far to crowded for any conversations of importance to happen within. And Serena did not want Darien within killing distance should that be any of their reactions to that particular part of her confession.

They settled around a wooden table in a sunny patch of the park only one or two people in sight and all of them out of hearing distance. Raye sat on top of the table, Amy at the bench, Lita lent against it and Serena sat in the middle of the bench opposite Amy's. She entrenched herself with her position on purpose, she would do this.

She took a slow shallow breath looking at her three friends to make sure their attention was on her, she didn't think she could bare to repeat this. "I want to start-" She whispered, her eyes falling to the table "-by apologising to you all. I've been a real bitch these past few weeks and none of you did anything to deserve the way I've treated you all." Her hands clasped in front of her, awaiting the silence to be broken by one of them while trying to decide how to begin her next statement.

"We knew something was wrong with you." Amy confessed. "You don't need to apologise."

"We've been trying to figure out exactly what it is though." Raye bluntly stated her eyes intense.

"We know it has something to do with Molly's party. You just haven't been the same since that day." Amy admitted, her eyes still worried. Serena shifted with the words, wondering exactly how much the girls could have figured out on their own.

Lita cracked her knuckles frowning. "We grilled Molly, well I grilled Molly about it. And we would have gone and grilled Justin…" She shrugged absently the frown tightening. Serena's attention was locked on Lita, waiting for the next sentence.

"Why didn't you?" Serena demanded a little too sharply, and her response came in the form of three very confused expressions.

"Serena-" Amy began looking a little uncomfortable "-don't you know?"

Serena's pulse quickened, it was the tone of voice Amy used when she was about to deliver horrible news, but she just couldn't imagine what the scout of Mercury was going to tell her. But Amy suddenly looked unable to talk.

"His in the hospital." Lita stated seeing Amy's inability to continue. Serena's eyes jumped to the brunette, staring in shock.

"Is that why I haven't seen him?" She demanded shocked. "What happened to him?" Raye was frowning in deep thought, so too where the other scouts.

"No one knows." Lita replied.

"Well what did he say happened?" Serena continued to demand feeling a little unstable with this revelation.

Raye shook her head as if realising something. "Meatball head!" Raye snapped and Serena stared at her. "His in a coma."

The blood rushed from her face and she felt the cold settling in. "What?" She gasped. "Since when?"

"Amy broke into the hospital computers, it says he was found about two nights after Molly's party in really bad shape." Raye was staring into her eyes. "We thought maybe you saw it happen." Raye bit into her bottom lip, looking for the first time fragile.

"Saw what happen?" Serena begged, she couldn't believe her friends knew more then her about this person she could barely remember.

"He was beaten up Serena." Serena could see Amy's concerned expression.

"Really bad. I mean who ever it was put him in a coma. And the doctors say he could have been in that alley since he'd gone missing the night of Molly's party." Lita shifted her weight against the table, her eyes locked in the distance.

"Why haven't I been spoken to?" Serena demanded of the three sharply. "I left the party with him… the police… surely they would be asking questions." She frowned, police usually asked questions when they found teenage boys who had been beaten into coma's.

"According to the police records the last people he spoke with before disappearing where three of his close friends where he said he had 'found something better to do then hang around at a kids party'." Amy shifted in her own seat. "It was a very poorly constructed report, they didn't speak with half the kids in the form who had been there, but they hypothesised that on his way home he was mugged although the mugger didn't take anything. They've asked around that neighbourhood but no-one heard or saw anything. It's mostly shop district so few people actually live there."

"Surely I would have heard about it at school!" Serena demanded, her mind in a whirlwind.

"With the way you've been avoiding everyone I'd be surprised if you heard the notices in your own class and Justin's never been in any of our class's. That's why it was surprising that you left with him." Lita rubbed the back of her neck, her intense eyes still focused on Serena. "It seems the only person who knew you had left with him had been Molly and she said you weren't feeling very well and he was taking you home. And since he was found in the complete opposite direction she just assumed he had dropped you off and was on his own way home."

"According to the police report Molly didn't have any contact with Justin during the party except when she greeted him and his friends at the door." Then Amy continued to muse. "She probably didn't want to put you through undue stress considering how ill you've been looking lately. And since we assured her that we picked you up outside of her house she knew you didn't have any more knowledge of the attack then she did."

Serena looked to Raye who had remained generally silent as her two school colleges rattled out the information gained. "What happened that night?" Was the Scout of Fire's demanding question. "We'll cover for you, we already have. But we need to know."

Serena nodded her head at her three friends, new tears threatening despite her surprise at the information gained. She wondered if she had been there when Justin was attacked, or if it had been something more sinister then that. Maybe Zoicite had found her human form and attacked him because he was with her, but that didn't make sense because Zoicite would have attacked her personally again since. And she couldn't put Tuxedo Mask in the picture either, the crystals disappearance didn't fit. It was possible they had parted ways and Justin had been by himself defenceless against an attacker while she had strolled about the park.

She pushed those thoughts away, there where far too many possibility's and she still knew so little. Instead she focused on the friends that waited for her response.

"I don't remember." She stated bluntly. Not waiting for their response she continued "I know-" Her voice cut off her head turning sharply just as the other three's heads turned. Something in the air-

"An attack." Raye stated bluntly, her sense of the unnatural spirits in the world keeping her far more in tune to such things then the rest of them. Serena wanted to cry at the ill timing of it all, she wanted to tell them and the Youma's never gave her peace.

Before she could even begin her triad of distaste against the Youma's an explosion sounded near by. All four girls where on their feet and running towards the noise without hesitation. She cast a look about to find the place, sunny and quite, and empty, then gripped her broach. She felt the others do the same, shouting out their transformation phrases then continuing their run.

The battle scene was hardly begun. People where still running away from the sluggish Youma that towered before them, slime dripping off it's leathery skin. It was a solid brown green colour, and looked nothing like anything human. It didn't even have that faint female aspect most of the Youma's had.

"That was faster then I was expecting." A blunt voice stated behind them. Serena spun on her heal, hand reaching for her tiara as she glared at the familiar smirking face of Zoicite. "I had thought we could kill at least three or four people before you Sailor Brats showed up for the finally. But oh well I suppose I'll just have to settle for killing you four." And with that Zoicite threw his power at them in a fierce attack.

All four girls scattered, three far more aerobically then one. Lita landed first, her attack instant, lighting lashing across the emptying park towards the general. Zoicite countered it easily her own powers colliding with and cancelling out the bolt of lighting.

"Bystanders!" Serena shouted automatically, directing her eyes to the few humans who remained trapped by the giant Youma. Raye and Amy nodded and jumped to that aspect of the fight, Lita sending harsher blasts of lightning at Zoicite, the thunder roaring through the air around them. Serena repressed her shudder, drawing off her tiara, she could hear her friends cry out their attack's a little off, see the flash of flames against the green tree's and feel the cool edges of Amy's fog.

Serena twirled around, her tiara spinning from her grip, and Zoicite, shaking his head avoided it with ease. Jupiter's attack sliding of the laughing general. Serena ground her teeth in agitation, the man sounded like a hyena and it was completely distracting. She caught her tiara back again, staring the enemy in the eye, not intimidated, not caring.

A cry came from across the clearing, Serena's eyes jumping to her two friends to find them both straining against the Youma, two citizen's still lingered in the line of fire.

"Jupiter, help the other two." And for once it was an order, a real order issued by the leader of the scouts and Lita responded to it, her body taking her across the field quickly to assist her comrades. "Just us Zoicite." She jeered at the enemy. Somewhere reality had stopped being real, and fear had no domain in this dream.

"Then I'll get what I want from you, moon brat." Zoicite's attack lashed across the field like a whip, trying to reach Serena and Serena dodged it as easily as Zoicite had dodged her tiara.

"Can't you think of a more original insult Zoicite? It's getting so old." Her dry voice seemed to enrage the general and it actually amused Serena that Zoicite was so easily effected. Zoicite threw out two more blast's his eyes of green burning with an indefinable rage.

"You've been nothing but a pest from the beginning, nothing. The only time you've ever been useful to me was hooking that stupid masked moron into surrender." Another harsh laugh, and Serena did something unexpected while the barstard revelled in his own mirth. She kicked him, square in the gut. The tiara would take too long to charge, any time she did it she was vulnerable to attack and everyone knew it, but the other three where still busy.

Serena's eyes jumped to the scouts as Zoicite tried to recover from the attack clasping at his stomach in shock. The other three where well and truly busy with the giant youma, attacks flying together, twined and charged with as much power as they would yet surrender. If it pushed they could fight with more, but no one wanted to do that. It was an unspoken fact they had realised long ago, they could draw every piece of strength from their body's if need be, including their own life force. But it had never come to that, and Serena refused to believe it ever would.

A flash of black and white and Serena's eyes turned from the winded general to the source, almost expecting Tuxedo mask, shocked to find a stranger there. Immediately she registered that all to familiar attire he wore as a general's outfit. She stifled her internal groan of frustration, wondering exactly how many generals there where when all was said and done. Every time one died another would pop out of the wood works, only this time the previous one was still alive, and was it just her or did the Negaverse have a habit of throwing their weakest warriors at them first?

That sparkle of black radiated from the white haired man and she realised it was an attack of some sort, his attention focussed on her three distracted friends.

Serena jumped into action, voicing a warning shout as she moved, the three where intently focused on the hideous beast before them not on the smooth looking enemy behind them. She saw Raye and Lita move at the warning on instinct, and Amy, her attention deep within her computer jerk her head up in confusion. Lita went to jump at Amy and came in contact with a solid black wall of energy the blue clad scout trapped in the middle.

Amy mouthed something her fingers moving faster over the keys, the black around her closing in swiftly. Serena pulled the tiara from her head, charging it as she moved her two friends had already turned to confront this new general anger and panic in their eyes. Lita threw her attack straight and fast at the new enemy, her battle honed mind accepting and processing the danger immediately. Raye was about to release an attack when from behind she was struck, her body crashing into Lita's and stealing the scout of lightning's attention. All the while the bubble shrinking closer to Amy's skin.

Serena reached the range she deemed necessary to hit without flaw just as Lita turned her attacks onto the Youma pushing it back, away from Raye, away from the human's who had already been drained by the Negaverse. Serena spun on her heel, words pouring from her lips, the tiara sliding off her fingers like butter. It travelled true and fast, diving at the newcomer, and she was shocked when it struck knocking him aside, his power flaring and vanishing.

Serena managed to see Amy fall to the floor gasping for air before she was flung across the clearing, her body colliding with this new generals.

"Zoicite, that was a low blow even for you!" Was Raye's horse shout before her chant of power came.

Serena assumed, with the trust of a warrior that the Scout of Mars had just taken the heat of her back and begun to fight Zoicite. So her attention went to the man bellow her. And found with distress his attention was already riveted on her with interest.

"I don't believe we've met before Sailor Moon. I'm General Malachite" Was what his smooth voice said just before the jarring pain ripped through her side. She gave a scream of pain and shock and tried to pull away form him. He went to grab at her, prevent her escape, his smirk superior and all together frightening. If the Negaverse kept sending stronger generals and they hadn't yet defeated Zoicite then she did not want to be anywhere near this man. She wrenched away from his grip, her hands grabbing at her sides where the blood was pouring from, feeling it even through her gloves as she tried to remain steady.

The white haired man, Malachite, lunged at her again, something black in his hand, her blood on his clothes. She was pulled out of his reach by a force from behind and she felt the soft familiar fabric of her saviours tuxedo. Forgetting his oddity's from the day before, in the heat of battle there was no time for questioning character's and cryptic words. 

The general gave a half laugh staring down at them, black around his fingers. Serena went to move but the injury on her hip stalled her movements making her falter. Tuxedo Mask swung her into his grip ready to get them away when the inevitable became obvious and the black wall between them and safety was visible.

Serena swung her attention to her three friends, occupied with a giant Youma and a pissed looking Zoicite. Her attention jumped to the masked man who was assessing their situation and then back to the Malachite.

Fiercely she tore the tiara off her head, charging it, glaring the enemy in the eye, unable to shake away the fear that came when he didn't even blink at her obvious power up. His smirk seemed to increase.

"I wouldn't do that." He told her quickly, almost amused. She ignored the statement throwing her tiara directly for him, barrier be damned she was willing to try. She discovered much to hers and her hero's discomfort that her tiara ricocheted when it hit invulnerable things, and it took quite an effort to recapture it before either of them where sliced to pieces by it's power.

The general roared with laughter from his safety outside the bubble. Then his eyes focused on the two of them with malicious intent. "If I have to take you all to find the crystal for my Queen I will!" Where the harsh words he uttered before motioning the barrier smaller.

"What are you talking about?" Serena demanded of him, her eyes jumping to her friends still fighting Youma and Zoicite, still protecting the human's from the monsters. "You have your crystal's!"

Out of nowhere light shone, yellow blazing light that struck at the general before her and sent him flying across the park. His body thumping against the ground and staying there. Automatically the barrier around them disappeared a back lash of power pushing through them and sending both to the ground.

"Hey, he was cute." Came a perky voice from near them. Serena turned to face the voice's owner only to be confronted with what seemed like another Sailor Scout only she was sure they hadn't had any new recruits. She checked her sluggish mind to make sure this wasn't one of the girls she always spoke to then frowned at the newcomer. "You need a hand up or should I go help the others?" Was the girls quick question, blue eyes flashing with energy.

"The others." Serena waved quickly, and the girl bounded away. Even from a distance however Serena heard the new girl give a speech to equal her own corny speech's, and somewhere in the midst the name 'Sailor Venus' was cried out. But that was all set aside when Serena realised she was sprawled across the grass beside Tuxedo Mask.

Tuxedo Mask propped him above her looking down at her with a frown of what she guessed was worry. She certainly hoped so, she couldn't deal with a reprimand at the moment and she couldn't think what one would be about.

She stared past him at the light sky, trying to recapture her energy and trying to force her powers to mend her injuries.

"Are you okay?" His smooth voice asked, fingers tracing over her side with expert tenderness. It tickled far more then it hurt, the healing powers of the scout form helping her along. She didn't fight the probing fingers, only flinched when he managed to touch the wound which was indeed still painful. "Sorry." He murmured, his brows furrowed in concentration.

She gave a sigh of defeat looking to his face then back at the sky. "I'm fine." She grumbled feeling his eyes fixed on her. She just wanted to sleep for a decade, it was too much trouble being a Sailor Scout at times. With a groan she pushed him aside and forced herself to sit up, her muscles stretching in protest. She looked over to find the generals gone, the Youma already crumbled waiting to be destroyed. "Man, that Venus girl works fast." She mumbled reflectively.

The other Scouts where in a stand off position with the scout clad girl in yellow's and orange's, uncertainty in the air. Serena was however willing to accept the new girls intentions as honourable since she had just been saved by her.

"Guys?" She called across the clearing and they waved her off vaguely, fixated with the girl before them and unconcerned by the half dead Youma.

Tuxedo Mask's fingers slipped below her chin drawing her attention back to him. She met his masked eyes a little confused by the intimate gesture. And his lips came down on her own, soft and careful. She stiffened against the contact her mind moving to Darien in retaliation, only to realise how similar the masked mans caressing lips where to his. The same possessiveness pushed through her veins ensnaring her sense's and bewildering her mind, the same perfect softness embodied in those lips and the gloved fingers beneath her chin.

He pulled back slowly, the mask suddenly between them, but his expression helpless and a little lost. Serena tried to breath, tried to push away rampant thoughts of Darien that some how melded into thoughts of Tuxedo Mask. It just wasn't possible, it wasn't even likely but her body and sense's claimed it was him.

And then so softly she thought she was dreaming he breathed her name.

Her real name.

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**-looks pathetic... "please review" ...continues to look pathetic-**


	23. Twenty Three: Battle

If the battle scene latter in this feels well… crapy, that's probably because I'm on a whole lot of antibiotics and it really didn't want to be written. But! I've got two nights to finish the story or you all have to wait even longer for more updates because I'm going to England. And the battle scene was the part of this installment that needed to be written still.

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**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XXIII**

The name 'Serena' hung in the air between them. Her hands fidgeted, her body reminding her suddenly that she was still somewhat pressed against him. She jerked back, putting a small but obvious amount of distance between the two of them. He watched her carefully, his attention riveted, the uncertainty still there.

"I-" She stopped and stared at him, reliving those thoughts of who he was. It felt so right that it would be Darien, and so wrong at the same time. They where both so different, and if Tuxedo Mask was Darien she would have to have a word with him about cheating on her Sailor form with her human one. That made no sense Serena. She told herself and looked about quickly to find that four girls where staring at them, but they stood far enough away not to have heard her name on his lips. "I have to kill that Youma." She managed scrambling away from him before standing on shaky legs and walking away from him. She felt his eyes on her back, watching each step she took so she took those steps purposefully ordering control to be maintained through her tingling body.

She pulled off her tiara, walking past the other girls and charged it.

He was Darien, she knew it in her bones like something she had already known and failed to acknowledge before the moment his lips had met hers. And he knew, knew who she was because Tuxedo Mask had never made advances to her, especially as he had just done. And that kiss had been a replica of their parting kiss in his apartment that morning even his gloved hand beneath her chin, directing her gaze to him, had been the same.

She wondered if he had done it on purpose, given her the key to his identity with his touch. It was possible, unlikely but possible.

She vaguely followed through the motions of releasing her tiara, not paying attention as the Youma crumbled to dust her back already turned from it, the tiara slipping back into place where it belonged.

"Those attacks where far stronger then anything they've thrown at us so far." Lita grumbled, her knuckles cracking in distaste, the corner of her eye trailing the new scout.

"It does appear that the Negaverse has been storing energy in an attempt to capture one of us. Or perhaps all." Amy too kept her eyes on the stranger.

"Did you just kiss Tuxedo Mask?" Raye shouted, far less tact then the other two.

A bubbly voice interrupted them. "That was so romantic!"

Serena looked to the new girl and found the girl was smiling at her encouragingly. The look in Venus's eyes suggested she knew far more then Serena wanted her to. "Yeah, sure, Romantic." Serena replied voice dripping with sarcasm then smiled at the scout. "Thanks for saving our lives Sailor Venus." Then looked at her friends. "Guy's we'll talk latter, I promise."

She walked past them to the awaiting Tuxedo Mask, and together they left the battlefield and four unsated Sailor Scouts.

As if to drive matters home for her, Tuxedo Mask lead her across roof tops at a quick pace before landing on what she immediately recognised as Darien's balcony. She could tell when she glanced at the building, the street below and finally when she walked through the glass doors to the desolate apartment. The scent of him lingered in the air with appeal.

Nervously she faced him taking the step required to bring her chest in contact with his own, then with trembling fingers she pulled the mask she hated with a passion away. Behind it she found the same perfect blue eyes she had been staring into a lot recently.

"Darien." She stated, just in case there was some misunderstanding. His smile was so timid it didn't suit either the Darien she knew nor Tuxedo Mask. She released her transformation, feeling more comfortable confronting him as Serena, she winched a little at the pinch where she had been wounded.

"Are you okay?" He asked casually and she looked up to find he too had de-transformed. His fingers swept the side of her shirt up quickly to find nothing but a pink mark along her side. She nodded her head quickly pushing his hand away and settling her shirt back. Scowling at the assumed physical rights he was claiming with her. She was far to uncertain at that moment to allow such closeness between them. It was strange having two persona's from your life suddenly merge into the one complex being. This was no longer Darien the jerk who she had been sleeping with, nor was he Tuxedo Mask the mystery who would always be there for her. This was a man of contradictions, who had offered her comfort and confusion, and friendship and enmity all at once. It was too much to process, to much to consider. Her mind wanted to go through every encounter they had ever had from the beginning and reinsert that extra personality that had appeared. Their first meeting, the first time she had met Darien, it had been Tuxedo Mask insulting her, picking on her hair and her grades, the other night when Tuxedo Mask had held her and comforted her it had been Darien doing that.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She growled, forgetting that they had never held any form of honesty between there normal forms. Even with sex in the picture there had never been real honesty.

"I did." He replied his voice cracking a little. She spun to stare at him, her confusion shifting into anger as it so easily did.

"When? I didn't hear you say it!" She screeched. He caught her hand and pulled her firm against him.

"You know though don't you?" He demanded, his brows pulled close, his eyes pleading. She saw his point, he had told her, in that one simple kiss he had told her everything she needed to know about who he was.

"Yes." She chocked out, staring up at him. "I know now." Her voice wavered only a little on those words, her eyes sharp as she fought the pain she felt.

"We need to talk." He told her calmly. A half laugh half sob escaped her at the words and she glared up into his eyes.

"You knew yesterday didn't you? After that battle." She moaned her head cradling in her hands. "I'm such an idiot, you knew then!"

"I'm not entirely stupid Serena, you ran out of the arcade like the devil himself was after you, and two seconds latter I get the summons for a battle. I get to the battle and you where still panting for breath." He stared down at her, a little on the mocking side. "And honestly, the second the thought was in my head I couldn't deny it. There couldn't possibly be two creatures like you in this universe, or any universe." His hand slid into her hair, thumb brushing her forehead with the motion, his eyes a calm blue.

She pulled back from his touch, a little afraid, still confused. "Please don't do that." She begged, she was starting to feel ill from exhaustion and mental overload. His hand fell back to his side, a sigh of surrender escaping his lips as he turned his body half away from her.

"I haven't been sleeping since I woke up with you by my bed that morning. I thought it was her. Punishment for losing the crystals. But she didn't come back and it never felt as if I'd lost her." Both his hands slid through his hair in frustration and he took three steps away from her.

Serena stared at him, knowing he was telling her something important but unable to decipher it. "Who is she?" She managed to ask in a clear voice despite the clutching in the pit of her stomach that feeling of illness was manifesting.

He gave a half laugh, his eyes grazed over to her before turning back away. "A princess, maybe, I think." Another half laugh. "I never really knew." Calmly he rested his hand flat against the wall, his eyes closed against something but she wasn't sure what.

Serena took a step closer in the confused need to understand. "And she wanted the crystals?" I was almost a whisper in it's volume but the silence of the world around them made the words perfectly clear. Serena went to frown when he turned quickly to her.

"She'd always ask." He began, then drew in a deep breath. "Ask me to bring her the Rainbow Crystals, ask me to free her." His eyes diverted from her for only the briefest of seconds before returning. "Beg me to find her. And I was always looking for her, always trying to find her, my princess."

"And-" Serena frowned, she still wasn't sure but.. "-and I lost your crystals?" Her frown deepened and he shook his head at her, forgiving, denying or accepting she was not sure.

"I lost her crystals, and she stopped asking." Carefully he rested his hand on her shoulder staring intently into her wide eyes. "But I didn't lose her, inside I knew, she wasn't lost."

"Your not making sense." Serena told him sternly, feeling out of place, feeling small and awkward, "And you didn't answer my question."

"It doesn't matter." He told her sternly, his expression still calm, still tender.

"It does to me." Serena replied quickly, the butterflies in her stomach doing nothing for that queasy feeling that had settled into place.

He gave another sigh and caught both her shoulders drawing her closer and she did not flinch. "When you showed up, when I woke up and you where there. She stopped asking me to find her."

The implications where there but Serena couldn't make herself translate it, and the rough translation she made for herself she didn't believe. She looked up into his perfect blue eyes questioningly.

He brushed her hair back behind her ear, eyes ardent and focused on her own. " I think that mean's you're the princess." He lent forwards and kissed her forehead gently, then rested his forehead where his lips had been. "At least mine." He whispered not relinquishing eye contact. He caught her right hand in the soothing grip, bringing it to his lips and placed another kiss upon it. Then lowering the hand he lent forwards, his lips seeking her own.

Serena pulled back reflexively her hand slipping from his lose grip. She stood shakily watching him, but he did not move to approach her.

"I need to think." She told him quickly. "Think about this, about us." She bit into the bottom of her lip eyes moving out past the balcony windows to the fading sunlight. "I need to tell the others."

He stood behind her, his presence encasing her with security. Then unexpectedly said, "I love you."

Her heart stopped, her eyes jumping to meet the honest blues that watched her.

"What?" She gasped, her mind telling her she was hearing things, her heart pounding in her chest with something akin to excitement.

"I love you." He repeated, a soft smile slipped onto his lips. "More then the sun," the smile became heart wrenchingly teasing "more then the moon." He reached between them and caught her hand lifting it to his lips once more, and she was powerless to do anything but watch the action. "You are my princess, Serena Tsukino."

Confusion reigned in her body and all she knew was he was standing before her, professing love she had never considered, never wanted to consider. And his expression pulled at the fibber of her being, waiting for a response when all she could do was force the air in and out of lungs that had frozen with the rest of her.

How long had she waited for someone to say that to her? And even considering their actions towards each other, in both forms, she had never expected them to come from him. It filled her with such contentment and terrifying confusion all at once that she didn't know which way to turn, but he still waited. And all she knew was that she didn't want him to walk away, to think he meant nothing to her, because he meant something, she just needed time to consider what it was.

She lunged in, claiming his lips as her own. No one else was allowed to have them, she was determined, and she kissed with every thread of her emotions. She didn't know if it was love. She couldn't be as certain as he was, but she knew that it was something powerful, something she had never experienced before.

When she pulled back from the kiss she smiled at him. And with as much devotion as she could she offered the only response her young mind could offer with honesty. "Your more special to me then any man has ever been." And she watched his eyes determinedly willing him to understand. She was pleased to see the acceptance in his gaze, to know he wasn't disheartened by her response. And with one quick kiss on his perfect lips Serena once more left his apartment. Knowing if she stayed there would only be difficulties, they both needed time to think.

Four heads turned to look as she entered the temple grounds. Three shocked, one overly cheerful. Serena smiled at them, a genuine smile, the kind of smile she thought lost to her. She had his heart, and she knew it, and even the responsibility of such a gift did not dampen her spirits. She would treat it well, even if she gave it back to him, he deserved that much after his honest professions.

"Serena!" Amy squeaked first, looking overjoyed by her sudden appearance.

"What?" The new blond asked quickly. "Done with him already." That same knowing look that said this new girl knew far more about her relationship then anyone else came into display. Serena rolled her eyes none-the-less.

"For now." She replied, a quick smile teasing at her lips and leaving the girls she knew gapping in shock. The new girl giggled.

"I'm Mina." The new girl offered her hand, looking devoutly proud of herself. Serena shook the hand firmly.

"I'm Serena." And that little drop of tension between two new acquaintances vanished as the blonde before her gave a squeal of delight and launched her self around Serena. Before a reaction could come from the started Scout of the Moon the girl had pulled away, looking positively abashed.

"Sorry." She mumbled to the floor, not making eye contact.

Serena raised her brow and looked at the other three. She found Raye and Amy were looking around absently, Lita's finger was pointed at the temple doors, her own eyes not fixed on the spot. Serena glanced and found two cat's watching her. Luna she knew, black with her little gold crescent moon forehead, the other cat was white with his own crescent moon his eyes greener then Luna's.

"Boyfriend Luna?" Serena teased absently scrutinizing the cat. His head bobbed in greeting before scowling at the abashed Sailor Scout.

"What did I say about hugging strangers?" He demanded, his voice slicker then Luna's imperial tone with just that hint of adulthood that made him not seem like an accusing teenager.

"That I shouldn't do it?" Came a meek response. Serena looked between the white cat and the blonde.

"Guardian?" She asked, and blue eyes jumped up to meet hers a bright twinkle in their depths.

"I see you have one as well." Mina's head nudged towards Luna.

"Pain's aren't they?" Serena asked, her smile breaking into a grin. Mina's eyes flashed with dangerous playfulness.

"Aren't they always? Artimis is always-"

"Mina!" The cat admonished quickly, looking abashed himself. He seemed to overcome the emotion and looked up at Serena. "Mina is Sailor Venus, the Scout of Love."

"Besides that." Luna cut in looking barely tolerant. "We must discuss the enemy's plans."

"Shouldn't we discuss Serena disappearing after the battle with Tuxedo Mask?" Raye asked quickly, obviously surprised by Luna's calm attitude. Serena had to guess they had already had a quick meeting in her absence.

"I will talk with Serena about that latter. For now we must focus on the enemy."

"But why would anyone care that they ran off together?" Mina interrupted sounding highly confused.

"Mina." The white cat, Artimis, warned once more. Serena watched Mina's lip stick out in a pout but she looked like she wasn't going to talk for a while.

"They must believe we can do something, or we have something that is essential to their plans." Raye began.

"But we don't even know what their plans are." Lita snapped, her toe digging into the dirt ground in agitation.

"Maybe they haven't figured out how to find the Silver Imperial Crystal yet?" Mina suggested, still perky. Eyes turned to her a little surprised and she looked flustered. "What? The Rainbow Crystals are the key to the Silver Imperial Crystal right? But maybe they haven't figured out how to use the key?" She brightened. "Like those locks on the school locker, I can never figure them out!"

"She babbles when she's excited." Artimis explained to the curious audience.

"That could be right though." Luna interjected drifting off into deep thought. Serena took the pause while all the key figures considered the possibility to smile at Mina again.

"Where did you come from?" She asked as pleasantly as she could. "Not that I object to being saved, I'm just curious."

"What?" Mina paused for a moment then brightened. "Oh, well me and Artimis where over in England, and when Luna told us all about the crystals being taken we packed our bags and came flying over here as fast as we could." She frowned. "Did you know you can't take cat's on planes?" Her frowned turned into a scowl. "You would think they would make it much clearer before the plane took off."

Serena blinked. The girl changed topics faster then she did.

"But anyway. When we arrived we did some reconnaissance work, but that was only two days ago and we had a beeper thing for Luna to call us on in case you where in big trouble."

"So why where you there today? Luna wasn't."

"Oh that was just luck. You know how it is, staring at the lake one minute, being pushed aside by people screaming 'Youma' the next." Mina gave a little shrug. "So I thought I'd take a peak, see you guys in action." She did a funny 'v' sign before giggling and glancing down at her guardian cat who didn't look half as impressed.

"So you've been talking to Luna?" Serena continued.

"I have been working on central a lot recently." Luna told them with a sternness that implied she was about to delve into several secrets that needed discussing. "Trying to trace the Negaverse energy patterns around the city. To there source" Luna looked at them carefully, her eyes uncertain. "We." Luna nodded her head towards Mina and Artimis. "Have located what seems to be one of their base's, though we can't yet tell if there are more."

"We located one of their bases?" Raye demanded in shock staring at the cat who was watching them all with worry.

"We would have left it until more base's had been located-"

"Before what?" Lita interrupted, eyeing the cat with wide and suspicious eyes.

"Before we attack." Luna admitted immediately her face stern.

Serena blanched at the words, staring into the cat's gaze to be certain it wasn't a joke.

"But we've never attacked them before. We don't know what their security will be like." Amy whispered her voice quivering ever so slightly.

"It has to be done." Artimis told them sternly, his expression however was uncertain.

"Why?" Serena breathed. She didn't want this, didn't need this, she needed to figure out Darien before she threw more problems into her life.

"Because they attacked us." Luna began reasonably.

"They always attack us!" Serena defensively spat.

"But this time they where attacking us. We didn't stumble upon one of their plans, we didn't jump into a fight that was already started. We didn't have anything they wanted to steal off us. They wanted us." Luna frowned at her. "It was an attack on us, not a battle that we where a part off."

"So we attack there base?" Serena demanded. "And it's not their main base and they just throw a worse attack back at us!" She stared at the eyes of the other four scouts and two cats. "We hardly survive attacks on our soil, and you want us to attack them on theirs?"

"Serena it has to be done." Was Luna's blunt statement, and said not in the voice of her guardian, but with the voice of her friend. Serena stared at the black animal, trying to argue, trying to find a reason why she shouldn't be willing and no reason came but for something deep inside that warned of danger.

"They have the crystals, they have the mean's to find the princess we must protect." Mina offered her voice reasonable and calm, and a hard look in her eyes.

Serena's mind jumped back to Darien and his profession at the mention of princess's. And a sickening feeling settled into her stomach, she did not want to do this. Her eyes moved up ready to argue and found that all six of them watched her waiting. And she stared closely at them, scrutinizing them with intensity, and she saw what left her with no choice. She saw a level of fear that only their determination had overthrown, she saw a pride and honesty that proved them to be better people then she would ever be.

"When?" Was all she could ask as she surrendered beneath the strength and perfection of her friends.

"Now." Was the black cat's reply and Serena was not the only one who looked up in startled shock.

"Now?" Amy gasped a little stunned.

"Now will give us the best chance of success we could possibly hope for. Our numbers have increased and the Negaverse hasn't had time to accommodate, the two generals are weakened from the battle, and we will have the element of surprise. If we leave it a day there is no telling how prepared they will be. We won today by chance."

"Now." Serena murmured before running her tongue along dry lips.

"But we have to say good-b-" Raye stopped, her eyes growing wide as she realised what she was saying. Colour left her already pale face and she looked down ashamed to have said what was lingering in the backs of all their minds.

"Now." Serena agreed suddenly, her eyes darkening with determination. She felt the other six nod in agreement, but that was all she felt before coldness crept into her body and plans where discussed.

Serena stared out the glass windows, the elevator lurching below her.

"Serena?" Luna asked from her alert position by Serena's feet.

Serena gave a brief sigh, leaning against the glass a little harder, her attention a thousand miles away. She wondered where Darien was, she wondered what he was doing, if he loved her so much that he too was thinking about her, but mostly she wondered about herself. Would she live through this experience, would she ever understand what ever emotions tumbled through her body, would she ever live up to the ideals her position as Sailor Moon demanded.

"Serena?" Luna's voice persisted. Absently Serena looked down at the cat. "Perhaps you should transform now?"

Serena voiced another sigh, her fingers tracing over the locket clutched in her left hand, her eyes and attention once more beyond the confines of the elevator.

"We're nearly there." Luna warned a tint of fear in her voice. Serena looked down at the cat and rebuked yet another sigh. Reluctantly she glanced at the lift numbers, two more levels before fate took over. Two more floors until she found out how cruel fate may decide to be.

Reluctantly, though knowing it had to happen Serena threw her hand into the air whispering her prelude to battle. It wasn't until the magic had skittered over her, washed away and within, that she noticed her feline companion had relaxed marginally. Of course, real relaxation was not about to be had, not when they where throwing themselves into such a dangerous position.

The elevator glided to a stop, a small ping noise filtering through the air and the doors slid open automatically. Beyond the light silver elevator doors nothing was visible and she knew this was the point of no return. Taking up the mantle of Sailor Moon had never been that shocking, in it's own right it had been, but instincts had told her to protect. This was a conscious decision to attack, she didn't know if she had it in her and she knew no one would make her.

But even if she pulled away, hid from the nightmare that was her life her friends would keep on fighting, keep on going and she could not harm them by abandoning them merely because her nerves did not agree with what had to be done.

Steeling herself for the inevitable she stepped through the elevator doors feeble protection and into the darkness, the small black shadow of her cat hidden by her side.

The doors behind her slid shut again the feeling of entrapment complete, and she knew no matter what happened this time, someone would die.

The darkness around her pushed into her sense's reeking of Negaverse energy and hatred. The evil of it wanting to make her throw up but she held herself as stern as she could, gripping trembling fingers into tight fists and staring into the darkness, waiting for the enemy to make itself known.

Time stretched as she waited, the cat at her feet silent. The pulse of the room around her driving into her heart beat, making it faster, her breathing uneven despite the command she demonstrated over herself. Then small lights bloomed into existence about the level revealing an amused Zoicite who stood watching her within attack range.

"Why, if it isn't Sailor Moon." The half smirk the general was supporting broke into a full fledged grin. "I was just thinking about you and your fan club." The teasing note in his voice was ignored by Serena as she squared her shoulders off more, trying to glare ominously at the enemy before her.

"I'm here to offer you the chance for surrender Zoicite." Her voice was even, those last few morbid thoughts gone as she stared down the enemy.

Zoicite broke into a riot of laughter, amused by the words and not attempting to hide it. It took a few moments before he was staring at her, letting her see his amusement. "And I thought you couldn't be any more of an amusement then you already where."

"This is your last chance Zoicite." Serena warned her voice louder determined. Zoicite stared at her in disbelief.

"Unlike you, I don't offer last chances." Where his bitter words before an attack was thrust at her. Serena jumped to the side of it reaching automatically for her tiara, her eyes ablaze with the intensity of her concentration.

Serena heard a shout to her right, and felt the warm burst of fire entering the room, her attention riveted on the enemy before her not her friends as they entered the room. But she knew from the heat, the direction and something inside her that Mars and Venus had just entered the room. And as they took their positions Jupiter and Mercury came in from the other direction.

It had taken Amy a little while to compile the data needed for a successful break into the tower before they debated over the positioning and the attack angle. It had ended with three points of main entry two sets of fire stairs and the elevator. Obviously from the explosions the fire entrances had been blocked.

"Look at this." Zoicite quipped, eyes flicking about them in curiosity. "This will save me a whole lot of trouble." He muttered.

"No." Lita countered looking enraged. "This will cause you a whole lot of trouble."

"Give it up Zoicite we don't want to fight." Serena cautioned tightly, knowing that it didn't mean they wouldn't. Zoicite scanned all five of them mockingly, and she saw the second he realised they where surrounding him. Saw that his expression hardly changed from the mocking contempt it always had. She went to frown, ready to form the important question she hadn't yet asked when a force caught her from behind.

She wasn't even sure who had her, though the vague suspicion in her mind that told her the new general hadn't been in sight range declared the chances of it being him where extremely high, but no matter who it was she knew she did not want to be within their grip. She tried to yank herself forwards and escape her confines and found it an incredibly difficult task.

"Beryl will be so pleased that you all decided that hand yourselves over to us." Malachite growled into her ear.

Something sharp bit into her upper arm, and she cried out through the controlling hand that was snapped around her mouth. Her mind hazed. She heard a cat like screech, heard a few people shout things out, felt the pressure of the hold slacken, and the next thing she was aware of was her face pressed hard against something solid, a trail of blood dripping down her right forearm with no memory of her decent.

For a long time she couldn't see anything, only a strange black texture that gave the impression of spinning around and around her faster then she could follow. Then groggily her sight cleared to reveal a muggy brown floor pressed up close to her nose and eyes.

She felt the tides of powers passing over and around her, managing to skim over her by scant breaths. The battle cry's of her friends and enemy's as they fought. She forced her face off the ground, her right arm protesting only marginally. Absently she was aware what ever wound had been inflicted was already gone but there was still a marginal pain that radiated from within and her head felt dazed from it's impact with the ground.

She pulled herself back to her feet, being wry of the attacks that where being thrown about the room, mentally berating herself for her fine beginning to the battle. She probably would have spared a moment for embarrassment if she had not being infinitely aware that the balance was anything but stable between her four friends and two enemies.

Serena spun around, a little dizzy but otherwise perfectly balanced. Her hand reaching up, withdrawing her tiara and she focused on the second general, on Malachite. She was the strongest of the five of them, and after debating over the rolls they would take during this attack, Serena had secured herself what she had thought at the time would be two of the more difficult jobs. The elevator entrance being the first, because of the un-coordinated timing of it all, it was known that who ever took the elevator would have to enter the room first, and hope they weren't put to death the second they exited the construction, or even when they where in it.

The second task had been distraction, and that meant while the other four dealt with Zoicite she had to keep Malachite's attention. No better way to do that then to try and kill him. She grumbled to herself, then without putting much energy in her attack she threw the tiara at the grey haired man.

His attention was immediately on her, a smirk of belittling contempt aimed in her direction and ignored by her tired mind. The tiara returned quickly.

"And I thought you'd stay out for the count." Was all he said before an attack was launched at her. Relying on reflex's that hardly ever worked Serena jumped out of the way, her attention wavering to her tired look friends.

"What?" She managed to ask, again throwing her tiara at him, using a bit more strength, a bit more skill then before. It occurred to her as he blocked her attack and sent it skittering back to her that she may have passed out for the briefest of moments when she hit the floor but she couldn't be certain.

She continued to throw and avoid his attacks, trying to draw the battle away from the one waging between Zoicite and the other four scouts. Malachite didn't seem to know, or care, she was uncertain which, that he was being distracted on purpose. She pressed her small advantages as best she could, never finding the right opportunity to off balance him, barely finding the right opportunities to avoid his attacks. And she knew luck was playing more a role in her continued existence then anything else.

Her attention was intensely focused on Malachite and his unceasing attacks when she became aware of fear, not her own, and her attention jumped away from her battle to the other one. Something was hurtling through the air, something small and undefinable to the two seconds her brain had to ready the image. And in a blur of motion her vision was blocked, and something sharp lodged into her throat as pain ripped through her and just as vaguely aware of one thing as she was of everything else, she knew it wasn't her pain.

And reality and motion tumbled back into play at an alarming speed, leaving her mind whirling her body racing, heartbeat pounding erratic rhythms of contradicting emotions. And the voice that left her throat was detached and wrong conveyed more shook then her body had yet allowed her to register. "No."

It was Darien, or Tuxedo Mask, and he was standing there before her, and she could feel the pain coming from him, and he was falling.

"No!" She screamed in shock jumping forwards to try and save him. His body slumping back into her grip and unable to hold his weight on her own she crumbled to the floor still cradling him. And she knew without words that he had just proved the very love he had declared, although no proof had been needed. But the blood she saw seeping from his wounds was such an honest proof that no matter how much she lied to herself she would know forever that he was willing to die for her.

She wondered when he had appeared, when he had made it to the battle. They hadn't summoned him, she hadn't told him, but just like every other battle he had found it. She realised with acute shock that in the speed of everything since his revelation she hadn't asked him any of those questions that should have been asked.

Her attention however momentarily distracted returned to his limp body. His breaths where becoming shallow, fading and she clutched at his jacket drawing him closer to her chest trying to give him life with her existence.

Searching through every grain of her body for some form of saving grace, pulling at ties that she had never explored, and that's where she found the two greatest ties within her. One leading straight to the centre of the man laying before her, the other leading to a strength that pooled at her fingertips waiting to be summoned.

Without hesitation she drew the strength to her, feeling the warmth of light and power flood into the room but more importantly through her veins. Then she directed it where she most needed it, filtering it through her grip and down the newly found link into his weakening body, trying not to force more then he could handle, feeling her own body burning with the energies intensity.

She heard gasps from around her, male and female alike and ignored them all, her attention fixed on him, her life line. If he slipped through her fingers now she wasn't sure she could cope, wasn't sure she would want to because in such a short time he had weened his way into her. He had been her enemy, her savoir, her lover, and her admirer, things no one else had ever been things she knew she needed. And things she knew would never be the same even if someone else offered them.

The power pushed at her, trying to break free of her restraints, trying to flood the room with it's intensity. But she held it firm, not willing to unleash the strange magic's that filled her to the brim before pushing deeper into her system seeking out the crevices forgotten.

And the power touched her mind, blinding pain flashing through her and all thoughts where forgotten but the ones the power summoned forth. Something inside her clicked, like a finishing puzzle piece and the torrent began.

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**Review and I'll post the rest of it today... (yes that's blackmail).**

**And yeah I'm sorry it's all clieched, but I never said the story was original, not by a long shot!**


	24. Twenty Four: Memorys

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This scene? This is where I intended the story to finish. When I started writing I intended it to end like this.

So. Thank you for reading so far thanks for all your lovely reviews, and thanks for subcoming to my blackmail. I really really would love just one more review from each of you, just a final "What I thought of this story" or even "What I thought of this bit" sort of thing. If you want to email me at Alipa@rocketmail.com with a detailed explanation, I'd be thrilled to read your opinions. Other then that… enjoy.

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**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XXIV**

Something inside her clicked, like a finishing puzzle piece and the torrent began……

Memories of long past centuries tumbled through Serena's dishevelled mind, sensations she had felt before. Moments encountered, people lived. But they where vague and unintelligible. She tried to process them, most slipping through her mental fingers back into the recesses of her mind where they belonged. And one memory surfaced that was clear, that did not speak of fairytale romance's or kingdoms lost. And she clung to that memory with more ferocity then any of the others, her mind opening to the images she was once more allowed to live.

She watched the party with detachment, wondering when her communicator was going to beep. It was the only thing she could really imagine that would happen at the party, it always seemed to go off when she most wanted it not to. Not that I ever want it to beep. She admitted begrudgingly. She looked down to her locket, pinned to her hip, Luna had checked three times to make sure she had it on her. They all expected an attack, they always did. Her eyes then moved over the crowd of teenagers, all lost in their own world, their own security.

It was good to know that she did effect these peoples lives, because without the Sailor Scouts maybe these children, her school mates, maybe they wouldn't be able to leave there homes after dark. Maybe without the Scouts things would have been far worse then they already where. What with losing our only crystal to Zoicite I doubt we'll have to worry about things like that for long. The Negaverse is going to hit, and hit hard the second it recuperates.

A hand thrust in front of her, breaking her chain of thought.

"Thirsty?" A male voice asked from beside her. She stared at the cup before her and glanced down at the one still in her hold only to find it empty.

"I just finished one, no thanks." She replied calmly, trying to be rid of him then and there. The cat wasn't there, she wanted time to think without being told she had homework to do, without being told she should go to sleep, or she should be more respectful of her duties as Sailor Moon.

"Come on." The voice cogured from beside her. She took the glass reluctantly discarding her empty one, her eyes still on the party not him. But she didn't drink, she was far to exughsted to waste time drinking. "Aren't you going to drink it?" The boy continued a little teasing, a little mocking, all in all a little too like Darien. She snorted at that line of thought. All she needed to ruin her night was to think about the jerk. She heard an impatient noise from her company and sighed in resignation before quickly gulping down the plastic cup's contents.

The room titled alarmingly at the bitter sensation coursing down her throat but she resisted the urge to cough it up. Too many Youma incidents involving all sorts of interesting liquids had taught her that if it goes down bad, it'll go back up just as painfully. So she forced the liquid to keep it's course.

Self control didn't stop her from scrunching her nose up and glaring up at the boy who had given her such an offending drink. He smiled smugly down at her, his eyes glinting with something she couldn't read.

"What?" He asked with what sounded like mock innocence. She wet her lips, the bitter taste still lingering in her mouth.

"What was that?" She demanded grimacing again as she tried to get the flavour to go away.

"Oh." He sounded apologetic. "Sorry, it's something a friend of mine brought with him. Here I'll go get you some water to wash it down with." And the tall boy moved away from her pushing into and through the crowd.

"Hey Serena!" Molly called across the crowd, pushing through it as well, but not as effectively as the boy had. She stopped before Serena, her grin huge, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Can you believe it? So many people showed up! This is so cool!" Right about there was where Serena found her eyes focused on the dancing crowd, Molly's voice a faded mumble in the background. They where inside, but Molly's living room had been cleared of almost all the furniture, but even then the crowd was rather thick. That wasn't what had her attention however, there was something odd about the movements of the crowd, something almost blurry.

A squeal of excitement came from beside her before a hand patted her shoulder. Serena turned her head in time to see Molly fading into the crowd to greet someone else.

"Ah. Here we are princess." Came the same male voice from before, she turned to find him waiting for her attention, a white plastic cup cradled in his hands protectively.

Serena looked up at him, his eyes where a soft blue, something about their shape making them look hard. His jaw was firm, skin a light brown, and his features where strong. His name completely escaped her at that moment but she knew he was a heartthrob you didn't have looks like that without being a heartthrob. Her second comparison between him and Darien for the night, and she wasn't really sure if she wanted a conversation with one of the spawn of satins siblings.

He held the cup out to her like a trophy, his grin lopsided. And she plucked it from his grip, her fingers curling tightly around it, surprised to realise they where shaking. The strange after taste had faded away but she took a sip to try and calm what ever was causing her to shake. It didn't feel like nerves, it felt like something else, something deeper.

"Who are you?" She asked calmly.

"Justin." He replied soothingly, but it didn't really sooth her. She took another quick sip of the water.

"You go to our school?" She asked, in her attempt at a civilised conversation since he wasn't moving from before her.

"Our?" He smirked at her. "It doesn't look like there's more then one of you." She refrained from telling him that at that moment there was one and a half of him in her vision, shook her head to clear it and smiled at him.

"Molly and I. You know, it's her party." She waved towards the door not really sure where Molly was. She heard another shriek of excitement and knew she had pointed in the wrong direction.

"So your good friends with Molly?" He enquired leaning against the wall by her head his eyes not moving to search out Molly, instead fixed on her.

She nodded her head in response, and the world titled again. "I'm all dizzy." She murmured, meaning to say it to herself, but it must have come out louder then that.

"I'll take you outside." He offered, and without permission pulled her from the seat directing her to the exit. If fresh air hadn't appealed to her so much at that moment she would have argued it. Something just didn't feel right about the scenario.

He walked her to the silent hallway and told her to wait before leaving her side. She gripped her head, ordering it to behave trying to shake the strange sense of dizziness. The music from the other room was dulled where she leant against the hall wall. The murmur of conversations barely filtering through to her solitary position.

She felt him return. "How's your head?" He asked randomly.

"Not good." She muttered in response, her hands leaving so she could see him again. He was much taller then her, dark brown hair styled to fall across his forehead without touching his eyes while being short at the back. He was dressed in a pair of casual dark grey pants and a light blue t-shirt. He took a hold of her upper arm again and turned to the door.

"Serena? Are you leaving?" Molly asked from near by halting their movements. Serena went to turn and respond that she was just going outside for a moment when Justin interrupted.

"Serena's not feeling very well, so I'm taking her home."

Serena blinked in surprise. Her mind repeating the words and all she could think was that he had gotten it wrong. Somewhere he had bodged up the message, that, or she was hearing things. He gripped her arm a little painfully and pulled her out the open door. She heard Molly murmur something and tried to tell her she would be back but the door was closed between them quickly and control of her tongue seemed to be dwindling

The cold night air bit into her exposed skin raising goose bumps making her shiver despite the internal warm pulsing through her. The hand on her arm travelled across to the small of her back. She jerked away from the contact frowning in a bid to force her mind to focus.

He was leading her somewhere, they weren't just standing outside waiting for her head to clear then return. For some reason she was following him unthinkingly. She tried to think, she had defiantly heard he was taking her home, she trusted herself far too much to doubt that.

Except she didn't remember ever leaving Molly's house and going this way. Her feet faltered, and beside her he stopped. She looked up into an angry expression. "Where are we going?" She managed to slur out, wetting her lips as if that would grant her control of everything once more. He rolled his eyes at her and threaded his arm through hers before tugging her back into movement.

"I'm taking you home." He patronized. She had been patronized enough in her life to know that tone perfectly. She frowned at him, forcing focus to return to her eyes long enough to gage where they where heading. "My house is in the other direction." She defied stopping once more.

"Ah, but our transport is this way." He retorted and laced strong fingers around her upper arm, jerking her back into movement.

Battle sense's told her something wasn't quite right, but with the constant throbbing of her head, and the way the world had begun to sway on her she guessed she was making things up. After all, this guy, who ever he was, he went to school with her, he couldn't possibly be dangerous.

"What kind of transport?" She asked anyway. Her arm felt a bit sore, his grip biting into her. "And… errr your hurting my arm." She mumbled forcing her eyes to stay open and her breathing more steady. She felt like she was sinking deeper into a confused sleep.

"A flying car." He growled at her, his fingers digging in a little more, his pace quickening. She was forced to accommodate the speed, not usually a problem but her legs weren't quite obeying their orders.

And then she processed his words. Considering the things she had seen in her life it didn't seem all that far fetched, especially with the way her mind kept skipping through things and making everything possible or at least equally as foggy at that moment. "They exist?" She managed to ask, just a little confused. Surely she would have heard of it if there where flying cars about.

"Sure why not." He drawled. "Would you quit talking it's getting on my nerves." She didn't know why but she complied with his demand, perhaps it was stunned silence. So he lead her on for a few more minutes of silence before stopping. "This'll have to do, sweetheart. I don't think your going to last much longer."

"Last?" She gaped at him, trying to fathom his words.

"Don't worry, it's not important at all." His voice was low, and he turned to face her, his grip still tight about her left arm digging into the tendons. She made a noise her right hand moving to dislodge his grip, even she wasn't invulnerable to pain. Her fingers felt weak around his wrist as she tried to push it away from her and she felt him smirk at her.

"Let go." She ordered angrily. "It really hurts." She tried to push his grip away once more, then glared up at him. And the expression in his eyes sent all her battle instincts into overdrive. His smile was far from nice, it wasn't even that mocking smirk she was so used to seeing from Darien, it seemed almost evil. It scared her though, she couldn't recall ever meeting a human who looked evil to her before.

"Does it?" He murmured, still that patronizing voice lingering. "Lets see what we can do to make you forget about the pain." Shockingly his hand gripped her waist, and before she could respond he shoved her backwards and she hit a wall painfully, a second latter his weight pushing her into it hard. His hands settled on her hips.

"Don't touch me." She warned voice quivering, and the fingers dug in harder, one sliding around to squeeze her behind. "What do you think your doing?" She demanded, both her hands raising and pushing his shoulders. The shock of his actions steadied her mind, and with a strength she rarely portrayed she managed to push at him. She took him by surprise throwing him back four steps, his grip on her breaking.

It occurred to her, when she glared at him angrily that they where not on the main street anymore. "Where are we?" She asked immediately distracted, her eyes grazing their surroundings, her mind once more fogging over. It looked like an alley, but she couldn't remember turning up an alley. It was unnerving to realise she couldn't see the main street, and their only company where a few piles of garbage. Her head spun as she tried to process her surroundings, objecting to the work load.

Fingers gripped her hips tightly once more, his body firm against hers.

"Little spit fire aren't you?" He murmured, and that's when his lips moved in. She gasped in shock, her left hand jumping up to defend her mouth before he could reach it. Then fiercely before he could react because she certainly couldn't think properly enough to wait until then, she clamped her hand over his face and pushed it away from her. He stared at her, with amusement. She ignored it, her breaths shallow and weak but they had been for a while, small beads of sweat trickled down her exposed skin and the world was swaying again. "If you stop struggling this wont take half as long." He told her once more patronizingly and moved in again.

She slapped him that time, with every piece of strength her left hand could grant and she was shocked by how little strength that was. Even in human form she was stronger then that. Immediately she knew she had to get out of there, away from him and his dangerous looks. Her feet began moving for the only exit she could see, using the stunned moment to put distance between them.

It wasn't enough.

Something grabbed at her right wrist, yanking her back, and the next second her back had been slammed against the wall once more, his body locking her in place. "Not so fast." His body felt hot against her, fierce and demanding. She went to push him away again, to remove the feel of his body against her own, and he caught her other wrist holding it firm. His mouth leered at her moving in towards her again.

"Stop it." She demanded struggling against his firm hold, trying to wiggle out of his grip, and his expression darkened with every movement. Panic set in, her befuddled mind trying to remember how to react. She'd gone through training for things like this, to break away from the enemy, because at that moment he was the enemy, human or not. She turned her head from his assault, her lips pressed together trying to get her mind to come up with a battle plan. Some form of response despite her trembling muscles and blurry eyes.

He cursed her angrily, snapping her arms to above her head, and pinned both wrists down with one strong hand, the other hand gripped her chin, forcing her to face him. She tried to pull her head from his hold, tried to jar her head backwards only to have it strike the brick wall intensifying the spinning sensation. She tried to struggle with her body, trying to worm out of his hold unable to even form a protest with words. Out loud all she could do was chant a plea, she wasn't even sure what she was saying, but it was all she could get her mouth and mind to do.

Something pushed against her when he ground her against the wall painfully. Not his body, something lower, and suddenly she realised exactly what was happening and it was enough to get her sense's back, even if only for a brief second. Her knee slammed up into his hardened groin, and he released her grasping at himself, several curses escaping him.

She hadn't realised, her mind wasn't working, but that contact and she had known what he was trying to do to her. She ordered her legs to move past him and with each weak step they threatened to collapse under her. Something wasn't right something was very far from right with her body. Before she could contemplate what was wrong she was caught up once more and thrown against the wall. The next moment, when she stared at the light blue eyes opposite her a blunt force slammed into her stomach making her cry out in pain. Her shaky mind realised he had punched her.

He was still bent over before her, holding himself firmly his expression clouded with rage. Her back was pressed up against the wall not forced there but using it for support. She wanted to curl into a ball to repress the feeling but instead she told herself to move, known that she had caught him off guard and that such a chance may not come again.

She stumbled past his folded form, aiming for the opening she assumed lead to the main street. A force slammed into her back, throwing her face first against the dirty floor. She cried out in shock, her chest pushed against the cold cement, palms scratching against the surface where they had fallen, trying to soften her fall.

"Leave me alone!" She begged, feeling the human form solid against her back, her face unable to turn to glare or even beg more.

Hot breaths pushed against the back of her neck. "You stupid little bitch, I wasn't going to take very long, in and out, simple. But you've gone and complicated it now." He growled at her, fingers on her waist digging in mercilessly.

"Get off me!" She screamed hopelessly. Tears sprung to her eyes as she tried to pushed against him, to dislodge his settled weight from against her back. But her arms where shaking, even her normally feeble strength nonexistent. Her back hurt from being forced against the wall so many times, her wrist was stinging, her palms bleeding from trying to catch her fall and her chest hurt from supporting both of their weights against the ground. "Please, please, please, just leave me alone." She begged, her breathing harder to control through her abused chest.

Cold fingers fumbled in beneath her shirt, sliding it up her back between them, modesty only maintained because the shirt refused to move beneath her chest.

"I'm warning you." She tried desperately. Adrenaline pumped through her, trying to clear her mind for her, trying to give her a better hold of the situation, fear fighting that adrenaline in part and accenting it in other parts. She tried to raise herself again, but found him still pushing into her, his fingers touching at her bare side and pressing in against the side of her covered breasts.

"Quite trying to move." He ordered roughly and his fingers dug into her painfully.

She gasped in pain, the tears blurring her vision worse then it had been blurred, although she still couldn't move her head to see anything but the side of a dirty wall. He was pushed so intimately against her that once more she could feel his hardened excitement pressing into the small of her back.

"Get off me!" She screamed the order once more and heard his rotten laugh in response, the fingers retracting from her sides. He shifted his weight above her, and she felt the fingers crawl along her back between them stopping at her bra strap. "Don't touch me you creep!" Again his fingers stopped their movements, and the weight above her shifted. Suddenly she could draw air into her forgotten lungs, air she desperately needed.

"I don't think-" He growled angrily "-your in a position to give orders."

She tried to pushed her weight back and dislodge him again, aware that he was sitting up, his weight settled against her buttocks and pressing her pelvis down harshly into the ground. Then blunt pain slammed into her back, shocking her into crying out. Again it came, that blunt pain that she knew meant he had hit her. Three more times he struck her, each time she tried harder to ignore it and move from beneath him. But he pinned her again, the flat of his palm on the back of her neck, crushing her face to the ground once more, her body unable to move with her head and waist trapped so firmly.

A whimper escaped her, her mind still trying to process ways of escape but all that came to mind where erratic unintelligible thoughts that she could not decipher. Her head continued to spin.

"Now stay still, because I can make this so much worse." He warned, his left hand digging into the base of her neck while his right traced across her almost bare back. She felt him fiddling with her bra, trying desperately to think of escape, her hazy mind arguing the need to think before the tension of her bra snapped away.

The second wave of panic set in, more adrenaline pushing through her veins, trying still to clear her mind for her. Her fingers grabbed around franticly trying to find some form of weapon.

The sound of a zipper moving and her attention was back on him, feeling the waist of her skirt loosen. Terrified she grabbed at it, her fingers coming across cold metal and clarity tumbled into place.

Her eyes snapped to his face, eyes fierce. "Moon." She growled out threateningly, her fingers closed around the tiny broach her heart pounding with realised freedom. "Prism."

"What's that?" He taunted from above her and she confused him by smiling.

"Power." She whispered, and it came to her, power. It threaded through her veins pulsating through her existence. She felt the initial burst push her attacker off her, sending him across the alley. That didn't matter, it wasn't even a thought of concern, all that mattered was the safety of magic pooling around and within her. She felt the scrap's on her palms healing, the tiny bruises that had already begun to form closing over. And it settled within her like it always did.

A groan interrupted her self analysis and she turned to find him standing a trail of blood streaking down the right side of his face. His eye's unfocused, his body supported by the wall he had struck. Then he looked at her his eyes where murderously dark and before she could coordinate her limbs to move he had rammed into her and pinned her against the alley wall.

Shock flooded her system, her body crushed below him once more and all she knew was he was dangerous, he was evil, he had to be stopped, she had to protect the innocent, it was her duty to protect the innocent. And with no other thoughts able to fight through the haze she brought her fist against his face with every piece of her strength. Something cracked, that didn't matter, her fist came down again, her left hand holding his shirt so he couldn't escape. The enemy always came back when she didn't stop them. Zoicite kept coming back, again and again with his grating laugh and his evil plans, and every time he hurt someone she loved, he hurt innocents she never knew but he kept hurting and it was because she never stopped him. And she would stop it this time, she wouldn't let evil escape. So her fist kept moving, until pain flashed through her head.

Her actions stopped. Her head had begun to pound again, nausea tickling her sense, her stomach clamping down threatening sickness. Breathing harshly she released her fist's, something struck the ground but was ignored, her hands jumping up to cradle her head. The world was spinning again, twisting and turning around her and nothing seemed to focus. Fighting for breath she stumbled to the only exit she could see, never noticing the blood she wiped against her white body suit, never noticing that she was forgetting something, just knowing she had to get away from this place, had to get out in the open, had to go back and tell Molly what had happened.

None of it stayed as a coherent plan, her body half supported by the walls she walked past, her mind so jumbled she didn't really know where she was going.

She stumbled for a long time before it occurred to her that she desperately needed to sleep and recuperate. Her eyes scanned her surroundings taking in where she had brought herself and was mildly surprised to find the park entrance opposite her. I beats the open street. Was all she could think before she had groggily made her way inside.

The silence she encountered as she stumbled along the pathways was comforting, a sign of solitude. She wasn't quite sure where she was going but she made her way along the pathways until stumbling upon one of the solid park benches.

She collapsed onto it, the tension in her body evaporating. Wanting nothing but to surrender to the sleep that beckoned her.

The moment her eyes closed she heard it. Pulsating in the back of her head an almost imperceptible thread of music. Below her the ground responded to the overloud bass, throbbing in time.

She groaned and threw her head back against the hard wood. "I just want some peace!" She screamed at the night sky, watching the twinkling stars as they refused to help her in any way. She ground her teeth, closing her eyes again and forced the sound away from her thoughts, but slowly it crept right back in, prodding her headache and igniting her irritation. She gave another scream, her hand closing over her ears. All she wanted was sleep, a lot of sleep, to get rid of this sickening feeling that pushed through her relentlessly. And some idiot was playing music, what was worse, it was being played at the most annoying level for music. The level where she couldn't recognise it but nor could she ignore it.

Her fingers curled around the edges of the bench, trying to fight the sound, they jumped to cover her ears only to find that position highly uncomfortable on a park bench. She shifted and moved as much as she could, all the while the music seemed to be getting louder.

A groan of defeat escaped her and she forced herself to stand, pulling her anger in like a blanket to make sure who ever was intruding on her much needed sleep would understand how thoroughly pissed off she was. Then she stormed towards the music, she didn't recognise the music was the first thing she knew, she didn't like it was the next. But she continued to follow it cursing about people with bad taste who played things to loud.

It surprised her, and a few others when she stumbled into a large group of college students. She stopped and stared at them, and found they where doing the same to her. She frowned a little, her mind no longer focused then her eyes levelled onto the portable stereo and she remembered what she was doing there. Reminding herself that she was angry she stood taller and glared at them, showing no sign that she was intimidated by being shorter then all of them.

"Would you kindly turn that music down?" She demanded as haughtily as she could. At their blank stares she rolled her eyes and stretched the muscles in her back, eyes not really leaving them for long. "Some people are trying to sleep you know?"

There was a sudden snicker from one of the boys, and she glared at him as quickly as she could only to find he looked completely unrepenting and perhaps a little more amused then he had been. One of the other guys repeated her question in stunned disbelief.

Serena tried to remind herself that male intelligence dropped down about five hundred points after the age of thirteen then remembered Sammy and decided male intelligence was a myth.

Someone tried to splutter a response and she resisted the urge to tap her foot in impatience, the wretched music was still pounding away at her sense's drawing forth a new wave of nausea. She decided then that it probably would have been better if she hadn't approached the noise, and instead she had moved to a different bench where the noise didn't reach.

"Oh my god." Someone muttered after several attempts at words. Serena raised her eyebrow at them quizzically, this wasn't the reaction she was expecting for such a simple request. She stared back at them then realised in the depths of her foggy brain that there was something wrong with her if they where staring at her like that. Fidgeting she brushed at her face and glanced down. Nothing seemed out of place so she went to wipe at her face again when her brain caught up. She looked down again and found a pair of red boots an indecently short blue skirt, white body suit and red bow.

Immediately she laughed at herself, somewhere along the lines she had forgotten to transform back. She tried to break the smile off her face immediately and looked back at them, as seriously as she could. "We superhero's need out rest." She managed to say steadily, there was a dead pause and before any reaction could come from her captive audience she burst into laughter again. Maybe she could say those corny speech's to the Negaverse, but a grouped of gapping college students felt so comical it was far too much to handle.

She could hear them start talking, perhaps broken from their shock momentarily, but their words held no interest to her. "Sailor Moon's drunk." Broke her from her laughter, and she looked up to find that all eyes where fixed on her and all of them seemingly amused. Then she was laughing again, the very thought that she 'Sailor Moon, Champion of Justice' was drunk was absurd. Luna would scratch her eyes out if she had been drunk, besides she wouldn't even know where to get alcohol to get drunk with. The whole situation was laughable, the girls would have fits when they found out she had forgotten to transform though. Raye would shout her ears off, Amy would probably look disappointed and think of ways to correct the mistake before it could happen again, but she was pretty sure Lita would find it as funny as she did.

They where all still talking, shouting one comment after another. Until one brave man jumped up on a picnic table scanning the crowd with intent before shouting "Shit where's Darien? I bet even he couldn't turn down Sailor Moon." And a further ruckus ensued from the crowd, a whole lot of them started to shout out numbers while the rest of them shook their heads wearily. She found she was still the centre of attention for the group which was slightly disconcerting and the bastards still hadn't turned their atrocious music down.

The shouted question deciphered in her brain and she began to laugh again, tears breaking to her eyes at the thought of Darien not been able to turn her down, even if she was Sailor Moon. "Darien Shields? You bet he couldn't resist me." She teased, her eyes flashing dangerously of temptation, god she wouldn't mind making him realise how much he wanted her. She caught herself. "But I'm much to upper class for him." Automatically she spun on her heal, her hands smoothly flicking through the motions of her tiara attack then posed for her willing audience. She found half of them where gapping at her again, her tiara in hand and pointed at them, but not charged, even she wasn't such a fool.

"Shit. That really is Sailor Moon!" One of the boys cried.

"Nah! It's just some girl." A girl Serena couldn't see rejoindered.

"What?" Serena demanded angered by the mere suggestion that she wasn't who she was. "I am too Sailor Moon!" She did another pose, her entrance to the battle pose, she would not let them tell her she wasn't Sailor Moon, no one else was qualified for it but her.

"Yeah whatever. Sailor Moon's just a tabloid thing anyway, she doesn't have any real powers." A cynical looking man at the front of the bunch sneered, his eyes moving over her ludly. She huffed at the words, not noticing the look.

"Hey!" A champion of her good spirit shouted from the sidelines. "I've seen the Sailor Scouts! Man, they kick butt."

"Yeah right! They walk around in miniskirts, how tough do you think they are?"

"I'll have you know, this is the ancient costume of my guards." Serena made a sweeping motion, her eye's un-focussing and threatening to sway, god's but she felt ill again.

"Come on, show them what you can do sweetheart!" Her champion cheered with enthusiasm. She went to remove the Tiara again then reconsidered, looking about the area. She couldn't see anything she wanted to hit… well maybe the stereo, but she would never hear the end of that if she did.

"I can't there aren't any enemy's!" She whined, just as annoyed as they where, it wasn't often she got a chance to preform to the crowd.

"Just blow a tree up." One demanded.

"I can't just blow things up!" Serena gasped at the idea. "My cat would kill me!" It obviously wasn't the winning sentence because suddenly they where staring at her again. There was tense silence before the whole crowd broke into uproarious laughter.

Before she could respond a hand caught at her shoulder, fingers digging in fiercely, another latching around her wrist. The action was followed by grating laughter. The pain bit into her with reality, making her gasp a little, she remembered she was in Sailor form and knew for it to hurt this was no little grip being put to use on her. "Fraternizing with College boys? Aren't you a bit young for them?"

Instincts kicked in immediately at the sound of that all to familiar voice, her elbow slamming back into a strong jaw, feeling the tension of his hold release and her body stumbled forwards out of the tight hold. She turned and stared into fierce green eyes. Her fist curled in response to the face before her.

"You don't know how old I am, Zoicite." She spat, noticing the silence around her, the suddenness of it all made it feel like a dream.

"No, but I can see how drunk you are." Zoicite replied lazily, his sharp yellow eyes moving about the crowd with a smirk.

"I am not drunk!" Serena screamed before cringing and clutching at her head, the response to much to ignore even when faced with an enemy.

"Indeed." Zoicite mocked, and Serena felt the attack coming. Serena shifted her spot, diving to the side and releasing her head to glare fiercely at her attacker. Zoicite looked almost impressed, and another attack came at her. Serena jumped up and pushed out of the way again. "You know little moon brat, I'm not used to you showing up out of nowhere unless there's an attack. What prompted your appearance? Wanted to impress the boys?"

Serena glanced and found the crowd was staring at her, they had moved back but where still staring.

"What are you doing here if there isn't an attack?" Serena demanded a little irritated, wanting to think through a battle. She knew there was something she was meant to do in every battle, something important but it just wasn't coming to mind at the moment. With a growl she shook her head, she would have to think of that latter, and dodged another attack. Somewhere along the lines she did a pretty nice back flip to escape an attack that left Zoicite gaping like the college students had not that long ago.

"Just examining a few energy fluctuations that popped out of nowhere. Like a certain little Sailor Brat transforming for no reason. Really, I thought your friends where smarter then to let you do such." Zoicite shook his red locks glaring down at her.

Serena realised he had started his floating thing, god she hated when he did that. It was bad enough when-

Her foot caught something and she tripped, her mental triad falling to pieces and she connected with soft dirt. She muttered a muffled 'ow' before jumping to her feet and brushing off her front trying to pretend the accident hadn't happened.

A blast caught her unawares throwing her against the crowd, one of the boy's took the brunt of her fall, his cocky grin proving he was more the willing to play the hero for her. She groaned at the expression and disengaged herself. Her head swirled, her body swaying and people where talking to her. Vaguely she looked up, saw Zoicite and looked around only to realise that half of the crowd was within a meter radius of her now.

The crowd was cheering out, shouting rather obscene things that she wouldn't have understood even with her mind working perfectly at Zoicite. Others shouting encouraging, if not muffled words to her. The world spun around her, and she took three stumbling steps towards Zoicite. She could feel the power in her fighting something inside and it was drawing as much strength as any injury, except she couldn't recall becoming injured.

"I won't let you disturb this party!" Serena declared, her legs buckled shockingly, her hands jumping out to prevent herself from hitting the ground fully. "Even if they are playing crappy music." She muttered to the ground. Her head wasn't working again, her limbs had begun trembling, maybe it was because Zoicite had made her move so fast so far.

"I quite like their music." Zoicite mused, hovering close by. Serena reached up for her tiara.

"Proves it's crap." Serena retorted, the tiara falling from her hand as her stomach clamped up. She gripped at the metal, her eyes glaring up at her enemy. She was forgetting something, she just knew it. She heard an attack coming her mind a bit blurred but registering the attack. She wondered why she had felt fine before Zoicite had shown up but now she felt worse. Maybe the attacks had pushed her more then she realised, maybe what ever was wrong with her was teetering on tacking over… or winning.

A rose interrupted her thoughts, landing almost directly before her. She blinked at it and felt the heat of Zoicite's attack fade. A strong arm caught around her waist and she was hoisted from the floor, her fingers curling around the tiara as she was tugged. It didn't occur to her what was happening straight away, she went to fight, thinking maybe it was Zoicite, but that didn't make sense, because Zoicite would never interrupt his own attack on her. She wanted to stop and think and her body did, for about a second before who ever it was had pulled her back into fast motion.

"Take it away from the crowd Sailor Moon." A silky voice hissed at her, seemingly disgruntled. She looked to her right, her feet stumbling because she wasn't looking where she was going and because she could hardly get her legs to work properly. She found her Tuxedo clad hero pulling her along an unmarked path through the park. He stopped somewhere, she went to look and he caught her chin. "Where are the others?" He demanded staring at her, and she saw the sudden frown pull across his brow, felt the anger almost immediately directed at her. Ignoring that she was giddy in his presence, she didn't think she had seen him this much in one sitting before and Zoicite at that moment felt like a foreign ingredient in her nights happenings.

She giggled at him, and pushed a few strands of escaping hair out of her eyes.

"You're drunk." He stated bluntly, that frown darker. His grip around her upper arms tightened. "Where are the others?!" It was a demand, a right out demand, and she blinked at him not sure if she had done anything to warrant anger.

And why do they keep telling me I'm drunk? She wondered angrily. Where do these people get off? She heaved a breath of anger, and saw him react to something, from the sleave of his jacket a rose appeared and into the night sky it disappeared.

"The other's Sailor Moon?" He demanded, gripping her tightly and yanking her into motion again. It occurred to her that they where running away, she was a bit annoyed by that. They where super hero's they shouldn't have been running away from anything.

"Let's fight!" She declared ready to turn only to find he was not letting her control her movements, in fact most of her support was coming from him. Odd.

"Are you even listening?" He demanded roughly his eye's fixed before them not on her, but she could feel the anger.

"Yeah yeah." She mumbled bitterly. "Where are the others?" She sighed at the question. "How should I know? I think there at… no I can't remember." She gave another sigh in defeat before tripping neatly on something. He didn't let her fall.

"When are they getting here?" He demanded just as harshly. She glared across at him angrily.

"How should I know they take their time some times!" She was triumphant with her declaration then realised with astounding horror that she hadn't called them to get them there. Fumbling she yanked the pink device out and went to turn it on.

The man supporting her jerked to a stop the pink communicator jumping out of her numb fingers. She went to scramble after it, her eyes panicked but he pulled her back.

"Well well well." Zoicite floating before them, drawled staring in amusement. His hands rested on his hips looking down at the two. "If we don't just have one drunk Sailor Scout and one useless Rose Thrower." Zoicite grinned amused. "Somebody forgot to tell me it was my birthday." The attack came fast, knocking Serena back into her mysterious hero before either could react. Another attack came, and Serena felt herself being pushed out of the way. She didn't react to any of that, her eyes fixing on the tiny pink calculator that would summon the help she always needed. Usually they where there before her, at least it always seemed the way of things, she had never had to hold her own against a Youma, even in the beginning Luna had always been there. She reminded herself Tuxedo Mask was there and turned her head to see how he fared.

She was shocked to find he had somehow disappeared from the scene and felt tears break to her eyes realising he had left her. She tried to cling to hope but her betraying body was highly emotional at that moment and the tears began to streak. She fumbled forwards for the communicator and was intercepted by Zoicite, his grip tightened around her wrist and lifted her into the air with him.

"My my my, the little scout seems to have lost her friends. Didn't your parents tell you bad things happen when you drink girl?" The smug red head demanded.

"I am not drunk!" Anger boiled insider Serena and she slammed her free hand against his lower jaw. His grip released and she fell, before hitting the ground she was once again caught into a secure hold, but this time it was comforting. "Tuxedo Mask." She whispered revelling in the feeling of contact. He put her down too quickly throwing her an angry look.

"Where are your friends?" He demanded harshly.

"I haven't called them!" She replied the panic returning. Somewhere inside her dishevelled mind things where on a delicate balance, she was somewhere between panic and humour and it kept tilting between the two. "I need my communicator." She went to point and found they where behind a tree. She went to push past him and he stopped her.

"Come on out little pests. It wont take me that long to kill you." Zoicite's voice taunted.

Tuxedo Mask glared at her, she didn't know how she knew, but it felt like a glare in her bones, especially with that deep frown. "Wait here, I'll get rid of him. De-transform if you have to hide." And he was gone in a flurry of silk and wool that left her confused and a bit agitated. It was her job to save the day! It always had been! It was his job to show up, make her fall in love then laugh at her while stealing those precious crystals she had done a pathetically poor job of finding.

She heard the battle taking place, her head peaking out from behind the tree to watch as he did all sorts of acrobatic feats she couldn't possibly do all the while throwing his rose's but they didn't seem to be doing anything. It was her job to save the day, besides it looked like he was doing a barely decent job, and Zoicite looked nothing less then infuriated, in other words not injured.

Silently she crept on hands and knees from her hiding place, her eyes fixed on the pink communicator hidden within the grass from prying eyes. She kept moving, trying to force thoughts away, knowing they where going to do little help but half way there a spike of rebelliousness pierced her.

She was Sailor Moon, she was the Champion of Love and Justice, she was a super hero who wielded the power of light and crystal, she was the only person who could destroy the Youma, and now she was obeying a Tuxedo wearing rose throwing idiot and struggling to contact her belittling friends who didn't think she was capable of looking after herself. Adrenaline pumped through her with her idiotic decision, and she scrambled the rest of the way, clasping the communicator and putting it away then her eyes latched on to Zoicite, only to find that Tuxedo Mask had disappeared again, and Zoicite was touching at a bleeding welt on her lower left jaw line.

Serena licked her dry lips tentatively, then grinned, getting her feet beneath her and stood up. She felt a little unsteady then forced it away, she would make this perfect, a moment the scouts would have to admit she was their equal, perhaps a moment when she would convince herself of that same thing. Her tiara slipped into her hold smoothly, the power gathering as she twirled around. Then she released it towards Zoicite only to see him grin rather devilishly at her and disappear before the tiara could even singe his ugly clothes. It speed through the empty air and the fell back into her grip. Serena cursed fluently at the miss. There goes your moment of glory Serena. She grumbled to herself, feeling a bit stupid, and wondering where everyone had gone.

A force slammed into her back, throwing her face first against the ground, then something pushed against the back of her neck, holding her face firmly against the dirt and grass. She went to push against it and another force slammed into her back. In shock she shouted out.

"What do you think Tuxy? Do you think you can watch me kill her?" Zoicite laughed from above her and another force slammed into her back. She felt the ground beneath her push down in protest, her own body trembling, a rib broke she was almost sure, under the pressure of those attack's against the same spot each time. "Pathetic little wretch that she is, I certainly wouldn't." A grating laugh came from him once more, and the force on her head pushed down harder.

Serena struggled, she did, she put every bit of effort into fighting Zoicites hold, there was no way she was going to be the pathetic helpless victim again. She moved and the force hit her again.

"I wonder how many times I can do this before she's dead." It was a thoughtful question not a threat.

"Let me up you big oaf, if you weren't so scared I'd kick your Nega-ass you wouldn't be holding me down here like this!"

"Is it just me or do those speech's get worse when she's drunk?" Zoicite asked no one, ignoring Serena's plea. His hand's curled, power gathering in his grip his expression dark. The power left his hand and struck again and a scream escaped her that time, something else broke, maybe another rib, she wasn't sure she couldn't think clearly. Tears gathered in her eyes, she was hurting all over and she knew how weak she was and it made her feel pathetic, something even Darien couldn't do as effectively as this. "Come on Tuxy." Zoicite whispered under his breath, eyes scanning the empty tree's around them. A growl escaped Zoicite and his foot ground her face into the dirt harder. "Like I need a hostage." He muttered, and she felt the power drawing into the man above her, his foot holding her head in place, her back throbbing and demanding relief her insides protesting something that had happened to it and silence engulfed everything else. Not even the bass of bad music was audible from where they where.

"Stop." The breathless male voice commanded. Zoicite shifted, his weight against her never varying.

"You have something for me Tuxy?" Zoicite cooed. Serena couldn't see what was happening, could hardly focus on it, her back hurt too much, her stomach hurt to much and the flavour of dirt in her mouth was oddly distracting.

"Let her go." Was the steady command. She knew the voice of Tuxedo Mask anywhere and felt relief flood her.

"Give me the stones." Zoicite demanded his voice jagged with impatience, that power ready to be released.

"I will." Tuxedo Mask assured.

"Why don't I trust you?"

"Dishonourable people never trust others." The foot pressed down harder, and the foot released her head and slammed down into her bruised back. Another cry escaped her.

"What was that?" Zoicite asked sweetly. Serena held back tears. Her body wasn't responding to her demands, her head was too hazy to make the commands worth while. She felt resigned to lay there and let them shout out their difference's or what ever they where doing.

"Here." Tuxedo Mask's voice whispered and she heard the slight chink of stones against one another. "Let her go."

"You shouldn't." Zoicite stated blankly still not moving. "She deserves it and we both know it. You've spent so long trying to get them and your just going to hand them over for the drunken whore's life?" There was something remotely resembling concern in Zoicites voice. "Don't get me wrong, I'll get those crystals no matter what, but don't you think you should reconsider surrendering them so easily?"

"Just take them!" Tuxedo Mask shouted. "And let her go!" He sounded closer to her then, almost over her like Zoicite was. She heard a sigh in the enemy towering over her and then felt the movement of him grabbing at what ever Tuxedo Mask offered.

She took that one moment of instability and twisted her weight under him. He tumbled and she rolled further avoiding being crushed beneath his weight. Her back struck something hard and she cried out in shock and pain but that noise was drowned out by what ever fighting seemed to have erupted where she had been.

She struggled to her feet, the tears coursing down her checks un-fightable, her back rippling with pain and hurt. Her eyes settled onto another battle between Zoicite and Tuxedo Mask. Her tiara slipped into her grip as she stared at them, her mind hazing and blanking, this time from pain. She went to charge the tiara when Zoicite cast a quirky smile at her and disappeared his hand gripped around something.

"Shit!" Tuxedo Mask shouted out, his eyes locked on the sky, she followed his vision and found him watching the moon. Something rather odd in her opinion of him. A string of curses erupted from him, his hands scrubbing at his face as he seemed to force control on himself and his eyes jumped to her. Still standing, still holding the tiara, ready to attack, ready to faint, and ready to be sick all at once.

He stalked up to her, his expression dark with rage.

"You stupid ditz!" What was usually quite a charming voice echoed across the clearing with deadly anger. "You- your." He motioned at her fiercely the anger un-abating. "Your drunk! What on earth! Drunk, and you go stropping about transformed!" His fist's kept clenching by his side and he turned form her then turned back his expression unyielding. "I told you to stay hidden!" He gestured towards the trees too angry to know where he was pointing.

She stared at him open mouthed. The first horror of the night, the real horror in her mind was that Tuxedo Mask was shouting and at her. The second was that everyone kept telling her she was drunk when she would know if she was drunk. And the third was that Tuxedo Mask was standing in front of her and he was swearing! She would have sworn he didn't know a curse word until this day.

"You where losing!" Serena tried feaverently to fight back, the world twirling around her faster and faster, making her head spin, making her want to clasp at her head but she wouldn't do that in the face of his anger. Her legs where locked still, the only way to remain upright.

"I was losing a lot less when you where hiding!" His fist curled again his anger radiating from his own body to engulf her own. She gulped and went to deny it, but there wasn't anything she could say, he was right. "If you wer-" He stopped abruptly staring at her, looking for something and she felt him roll his eyes. "Your not even paying attention!"

"I am!" She cried back fiercely. "It's just you keep spinning and it's distracting and-" And he was gone. Like he had never been there, the clearing around her was empty. "-my back hurts." She whispered to the air, wanting comfort, unable to find it. Tears broke through her controls, her head hurt, her night was ruined. She could take Darien the jerk picking her to shreds but Tuxedo Mask the dashingly handsome forgiving hero telling her she was a ditz hurt far worse, because it hadn't been in good fun, it hadn't even been close. The pure rage of her hero's expression still pressed in on her and filled her with self loathing. The tears poured quick and fast, her night was horrible, it was over traumatic and she was in pain.

She collapsed to the floor, her gloved fingers curling into the dirt as she focused her power on those rib's that bit into her insides. The power fought her hold but she was determined that if nothing else she was going to walk away without a broken bone.

It was beyond her how long It took before her ribs seemed repaired, but that didn't matter, She pushed herself up from the ground with her throbbing wrist. "Stupid Zoicite." She muttered rubbing at the bruises that where already making themselves known. "Stupid Tuxedo Mask." She sniffed at that, and pushed the tears away, she refused to cry, she just wanted to go home and sleep. She just needed to get her orientation back, that stupid masked avenger had dragged her off somewhere and she wasn't even sure where it was.

Reminding herself of all the trouble it had already caused her she pushed the transformation away, feeling the power escape her limbs and the pain come back.

"Figures" She muttered angrily winching at the bite of her back's throbbing. She stumbled around her fingers touching at the broach once more clipped to her hip and listening intently for danger, she was not going to be attacked one more time that night, that would have been beyond pathetic, but she wasn't quite sure and having already had two surprise attacks was ready to deal with a third.

She came across the college party again rather unexpectedly, the music had been turned down to an almost whisper. A whole lot of them where already gossiping about seeing Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask and some ugly guy in a grey suit. She was going to approach them, ask them where she was, and hope for a good reception when she saw him. He was sitting there, with a group of boys, looking thoroughly dejected as they joked about something. She couldn't hear that group, but she could see him so clearly it was astonishing. The rest of the world still spun but she could see everything to do with him, even that little turn down at his lips that suggested he was upset.

Groaning in defeat she lent against one of the tree's, there was no way she was going to wander the park and find some other strangers to ask directions from, and there was no way she was going to approach the jerks friends and ask them. She would just have to wait until he was gone before she made her presence known. In the mean time she rested her head against the bark as well, willing to welcome sleep.

She waited pathetically there, watching him drink down the bottles thrust at him by flirtatious women who made her stomach turn, and rowdy men who Darien paid just as little attention to. The group around him continued to get louder, trying to conjure him into conversation with them, even threatening to sing songs if he wasn't more social.

She wasn't that surprised when Darien rose from his seat and walked away from them, heading into the park. And as she watched him leave an evil little plan spun into motion. Maybe it was her only way to try and get that morbid expression he was wearing off his face, or maybe it was just their rivalry that had her want to approach him.

She followed him silently, creeping from the bush's as he approached the lake. And she realised a little proud of herself, that she suddenly knew where in the park they where. She could go home. But watching his hunched figure she found herself unwilling to leave yet. Slowly tentatively she crept towards him, what exactly to do, her mind gave her no suggestions. An idea occurred to her as she followed him onto the bridge, sneaking up behind him. She twiddled her fingers, her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth as she reached up with her right hand to cover his eyes, teasing comments on her tongue.

They all stopped, when unexpectedly he turned, catching her hand before it could reach his dark eyes. He stared down at her gripping her wrists his breathing hitched.

"Hey jerk, let me go." She warned harshly.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded, his eyes not moving from her own. She stared at the intensity she saw in his dark sapphire eyes, like barriers had been removed and this was what he always hid deep within,

"What's it look like?" She demanded tartly. "I'm losing circulation to my hand." She glared pointedly at their connection. Her pulse was up she couldn't explain it but she was excited. Gently he tugged her wrist and brought her up to him.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded again, but his voice lost it's bite before the third word was out. He was staring at her expression still, fixated with something, then the gap between them was breached his lips closing over hers fiercely.

She went to struggle, after all that's what her mind was on auto pilot to do considering her earlier encounter, but instead her body yielded, curing in against his in surrender.

His grip on her wrists didn't relinquish as the kiss intensified. Her other hand latched onto his elbow as he tilted her back, his arm sliding around her waist to assist in supporting her.

"Oh gods." He groaned his lips moving about her face exploring. She pulled herself tighter against him, her own mouth trying to move about his features, trying to keep up with him and her frantic heart beat. His lips sealed over the side of her neck, just below her ear lobe and she arched fiercely against him. He went to pull away but she refused to relinquish her grip.

"Don't stop." She warned him. She would accept none of that from him, she dealt with enough crap from him as it was. But none of their fights mattered in that moment, as his hands moved about her body, exploring over her clothes, because at that moment she felt right. She felt like she was where she belonged for how ever many eternity's she existed she knew it wouldn't feel this right again.

His right hand caught her waist and pulled it firm against his own, heat pooling in her depths at the contact, pleasure coursing through her. His lips trailed down her neck, soft cries escaping her control not that control had any place where she stood. This moment she knew was void of everything their previous encounters had held, and control had always been there before.

"This isn't like you." She managed to gasp unthinkingly, her fingers tracing the muscles of his chest with curiosity, she had always known he was muscular, enough encounters with peoples chests gave you that knowledge, but it was euphoric tracing those muscles like she had every right to.

"I know." He breathed against her chest, his lips trailing over her clothes to between her breasts, his hands curled around her hips still. "I think I'm drunk." He admitted, and gave a laugh. "But if this is drunk, I don't think I want to be sober again." He jerked back up, lips closing over her own once more his hand closing over her breast without warning. Shocked she went to shout out something but noise was blocked by those demanding perfect lips. After a second, his fingers still pressing into her occasionally and rubbing her breast he pulled back a sheepish grin where his usual suave self lay. As if he couldn't believe he was doing what he was either.

"I don't think I want you sober either." She gasped at him, pleased with the feelings he was bringing forwards in her. His smile went from sheepish to suave immediately and he lifted his hand from her breast settling both hands on her shoulders and trailed them smoothly down her thin shirt sleaves to her hands. Then casually he lifted her left hand planting delicious kiss's on each finger before drawing the other one to his mouth.

He stopped, his head tilting to the side and she saw the frown appear.

"What happened?" He asked softly, releasing her left hand and tracing the visible bruises on her wrist. She was a bit surprised, she had forgotten about them.

"Oh I just klutzed out, you know me." She prattled, nervously watching his fingers tracing her palm and lower arm, her tongue skipping out to wet dry lips, she wanted him to kiss her again, and those casual touch's to her right hand where sending all sorts of currents through her body.

"You okay?" He asked quickly, looking up into her eyes with the only concern she had ever seen in his eyes. It melted her heart.

"Yeah I'm fine." She muttered bewildered, ignoring her throbbing back. He twisted her wrist in an arch, what would normally be an odd but painless movement and she winced. Glaring up at him she found he was watching her that same annoying eyebrow cocked as if he had known her reaction would be just that.

"Liar." He told her firmly. He caught her other hand releasing her right and without a word he tugged her off the bridge, away from the party. She didn't protest, didn't have the brain power to do so after all the emotions he had drawn out in her body. It was a night of highs and low's and right now she was on a high.

It was surprising when they stopped, when doors swung open and the cool night air was replaced with the mild warmth of air-conditioning. She glanced around, reviving faintly from her dazed state of mind. They where in a building lobby. She didn't even ask, as he once more tugged her gently into motion.

Silence played on her sense's as the lift rose, feeling groggy still, a little uncertain and entirely comfortable. If he hadn't kissed her, if he hadn't drove emotions into her body she had never felt before but was more then willing to feel again she would have been a bit curious as to what was leading her to follow him without question. But standing near him, her left hand still entrapped in his grip she found herself smiling stupidly.

He saw her expression and his small frown slipped away. "What?" She could hear mild amusement in his voice and schooled her features into a perfectly placid and unaffected expression. His short laughter told her she hadn't done it half as well as she had wanted to. As she scowled at him his grin removed itself but his eyes where still amused. "Come on, Serena." He took a step towards her, and on instinct she stepped back. "What where you thinking?" He asked softer, his fingers tightening around her own, and she realised no matter how much she backed away he had her trapped, and that thought pleased her as much as all the others.

"I was thinking-" She paused, she couldn't actually remember what she had been thinking. A smile and a quick shake of her head and she beamed one of her brighter smile's up at the man before her. "I don't remember." She broke into a fit of giggle's, realising it sounded like a lie and finding that more humorous then anything else. She tired to catch her breath against the escaping giggle's bringing her free hand to wipe away the water collecting in her eyes. A little part of her demanded if it really was that funny, but that voice was annoying and ignorable.

She caught her breath, and looked back up at him, her eyes gleaming with the amusement she was trying to suppress. It faded effectively when she met his eyes again. Her breathing slowly shallowed, her eyes sliding across his face languidly. "God's your beautiful." She whispered absently, then realised what she had said and flushed a bright red. She didn't even see his eyebrow rise again.

"I thought only girls where beautiful." He challenged, and if it wasn't for his amusement, a soft shared amusement instead of mocking amusement she would have scrambled away and hidden.

The lift came to a halt and she went to escape out to what ever level it was delivering her to, but he quickly caught her still and trapped her into the corner of the lift.

"Umm… we'll miss our floor." She whispered, eyes intent on the escape, intent on avoiding him.

"It's not going anywhere Serena." He told her firmly, even as the door's slid shut. She made a noise of protest to signify that she wanted to be on the other side of that door but he continued to ignore her protests. When the doors where completely closed she tried to find something else to look at. "So I'm beautiful ha?" His voice was back to teasing, and how she hated it when he teased her. "Not handsome or dashing? But beautiful?" Mock indignation filled his voice, and she wasn't quite able to tell the difference between real indignation. She looked up quickly in worry, met his eyes and relaxed. She would have known if there was real resentment in those eyes.

She reached up, despite everything and brushed one of his black locks behind his ear. "Beautiful." She whispered again. Then met his eyes firmly. "And yes, handsome. But lots of guys are handsome. Beauty in a man is rare." She paused then worriedly continued in a rush. "And it's good. It's not bad, it doesn't mean you look like a girl or anything. I mean-" she was stopped abruptly for which she was thankful for, and even more so thankful by the form of interruption. Lips where closed possessively over her own once more, his body confining her more securely into the corner. She responded, ignoring the rattling heart beat in her chest as she fought to keep up with him.

She pulled back roughly, catching her breath and he stepped back from her fighting for his own breath as well.

"We should-" He stopped, looked at her with dark eyes then shock his head. "Your wrist." He suddenly stated as if catching himself. "I was going to look at it." He snapped away from her, and she wondered in the universe of bad excuses if that even came close to making the grade. He stepped away, pressing one of the numbers once more, and automatically the doors opened. He stepped out and she followed him, although she was reluctant to follow him, cradling the mentioned wrist ready to protect it from his prodding's. She did not want him asking questions about the marks she had received from her two attacks, something told her that even drunk he would probably be able to figure something out.

He fumbled with key's opening a door before stepping through, she felt him waiting for her just inside the door, as if he was uncertain if she would follow, and she caught herself quickly moving to enter the apartment wondering if it was his. Of course it is idiot, who else's apartment is he going to have keys to? She shock her head and stepped through the hall, closing the door behind her. Before looking to find him watching her.

On reflex she released her wrist, not wanting to draw attention to it again and stared back at him. Something needed to happen, something to distract him, something to calm her body down from the shaking heights he'd already driven her too. A little thoughtlessly she breached the distance between them, hands twining around his neck and pulled his lips back down to hers. She was pleased when he reacted immediately, his arms encircling her, trapping her. His lips pulling away, returning, exploring her face in a rushed exploration of tenderness.

And he continued to explore his mouth moving downwards, tentative in their exploration the further down she let him go. She could fell her body shaking, burning with a need she was far too dizzy to name. And his lips and hands as they explored her where sending her over the edge.

She wasn't even quite sure what was happening. She was aware of it all, processing it all but it all felt like a dream of some weird and enthralling sort. Until pain shot through her body. Pain that pushed aside passion and set her to remembering her battle with Zoicite. She must have made a noise, a sound of some kind because he was glaring at her when she managed to open her eyes to the situation once more.

"What?" She demanded breathlessly, trying to make herself sound bitting, but the pain that tinged in her voice made her sound nothing but weak.

"You said you where okay." He growled at her sharply.

"You said I was a liar." She responded as calmly as she could. Her back was throbbing, telling her to faint but she held her ground. There where secret's he couldn't know, secrets she refused to allow him to know and some part of her frazzled mind told her that by looking at her injury's he would figure it out.

He reached for her shirt, going to lift it she realised and she jerked to halt him, her glare deadly when he met her eyes. She had secrets that could cost more then just her life, and her friends lives where something she could not play with.

He gave a sigh, his fingers releasing the material, and slowly his gaze slid over her. She felt uncomfortable in his presence then, a strange sense that he could figure it out any second if she remained. Abruptly, at least in his point of view, she turned to the door only to find his hand had captured her wrist. She turned to glare, but the smile aimed at her made her hesitate.

"Stay." He whispered, a pleading tone, a demanding tone, and a tone of gentle caress' that made her turn with him and allow herself to be drawn deeper into his domain. He directed her to a seat and disappeared from the room, her eyes left the wonder the expanse over expensive gadgets and nothing that made up his room.

Feeling an onset of exhaustion she rested back against the couch and pain zipped through her body faster then lightning. She stopped the small scream that threatened, bitting into her lip and blinked back the new tears.

She heard him return and turned her head to see him, standing in the door way watching her. "Whatever's wrong needs to be looked at." Came his calm voice. And she realised he was holding a first aid kit. Her anger flared wild as she jumped to her feet. She breached the distance between them unexpectedly again, her hands finding his chest. Tracing patterns against hard muscles before equally unexpectedly she yanked the kit from his hand and threw it across the room, ignoring the clang it made as it came in contact with a wall.

"Was that necessary?" He growled at her, and she grinned for the second she had before he had caught her up against him once more, somehow forgetting her injury's just as she forgot them. And she lost herself in his warmth surrendering everything but her secrets to him.

And somewhere in the middle of it all, whisper thin threads of silver and magic, weaved between them, tying them together in a blaze of love and passion. And nothing mattered but that they where connected and that they where together and it was where they belonged, even if the world fell apart around them. And nothing could ever argue it, or fight it because nothing else was as powerful. 

Serena gasped, something slammed against her, something burning and harmful and deadly. Her body tumbled forwards, falling over Darien's, but he wasn't there, and she was alone. She tired to breath, to catch herself to overcome the flood of images in her head and return her focus to the moment but the breaths where shallow weak. The tang of copper invaded her mouth, breaths coming out weaker. She tired to sit up, tried to draw herself back to reality, only to find her body unwilling to oblige her. She curled her fingers, uselessly proving she could move, if only a bit. 

She could hear people shouting but not the words that rushed through the air just that they where shouting.

And something unknown, unrealised, slipped from her grasp, without a whisper of warning.

And everything faded leaving darkness and silence.


	25. Very Important Note

**PLEASE READ THIS WHOLE NOT BEFORE DISREGARDING IT!**

I incited a bit of confusion with my Author's Note at the top of Part 24 (the last scene), confusion I wish now to remedy. 

First and foremost, 'Part 24: Memorys' was the final scene of "When Dawn Comes" as I, the author, had intended and planned from very near the beginning. 

For those of you who felt it was a "cop-out from an author who is bored with their story and just wants to get it over with" or that I "became bored with the piece and decided to kill off the character for no apparent reason" I'd like you to know that the final scene was written some four months ago (it was the scenes in the middle that remained to be written over time). It was not rushed, it was not forced and it was certainly not written to just get rid of the story. I had put FAR to much effort into this story to merely throw it away on an ending I did not think was worthy of it. I am in-fact highly offended by such accusations; wether or not offence was intended. 

Still reading? Good. 

As I stated at the beginning of 'Part 24: Memorys', "This is where I intended the story to finish" (once more I apologise for the confusion this statement caused). I'm going to have to ramble a little here to explain this sentence. 

While I was nearing the end of the story I realised quite obviously that I would receive a very negative backlash for finishing it where I had always planed to. And the thought of writing one of those 'happily ever after' epilogues wormed it's way into my mind. Since then I have been battling with some very annoying voices as I tried to decide on wether to writing this scene or to leave it. 

I do not have a proof-reader, I do not have anyone I know who reads my story, I do not have anyone else's opinions to rely on, which made the dilemma much harder to deal with for me. 

I liked the original ending, it adds something to the story that I as a writer wanted to display. But as a reader I would have thrown things at my computer screen, or at least left with a feeling of irksome discontent, this made me want to post an epilogue. And unfortunately by the time I was ready to post 'Part 24' I had not yet decided which path to follow. This is what prompted my very confusing Authors Note. 

Now my final decision. And maybe none of you will agree with this, but in my endeavour to make up for that stupid Authors Note I've made a compromise. 

**My compromise stands thus: **

** 'Part 24: Memorys' is the ending to "When Dawn Comes" as far as I, the author, am concerned. This will remain the official ending to this story. **

** 'Part 25a: unnamed' is a possible epilogue to "When Dawn Comes" which I have written. **

** 'Part 25b: unnamed' is a different possible epilogue to "When Dawn comes" which I have also written. **

**And for the fun of it, since I'm putting up multiple endings I invite anyone to write another ending to this story and I'll post it up as well (there are plenty more letters in the alphabet) and I'd love to see how other people wanted it to end. **

Now I've said all of that, I'm going to disappoint you. Neither epilogue will be posted for a while... my computer was stolen while I was away, along with both already written epilogues and I must wait for a new computer before I can retrieve the files. And trust me I didn't plan to have my computer stolen and I'm sure I'm more upset about this then any of you. 

**Kimra**

And just quickly a very very big thank you to those people who despite the imperfect ending still liked it (and some of you even went so far as to compliment it and my writing... What are you people on?). It mean's a great deal to me that some of you liked this ending or at least didn't chose to criticise it. 

**Mar's Fire, Moonlit, Angelgirlie805, Innocent Dreamer, Jo-Jo, SailorSpectra, Bluejello, LilMoonGoddess, Chibi-Sugababy, Tina E. Telford, Marni, and anyone I missed (because it's late and I probably missed some of you... gomen) **


	26. Twenty Five a: Sleeping

**This is the first of two epilogues.**

**Meaning I have written two alternative endings to this story.**

**Please read both.**

**(**the second Epilogue will be up very very soon**)**

----------

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XXV (a)**

He watched the city with something bordering on disconnection. Something empty and hollow had slowly eaten away at him for so long now that he could remember nothing but the feeling burrowed within.

"Endymion?"

He titled his head in response, hardly moving, hardly listening. The presence behind him approached, stoping by his side and lingering passively. He knew what they wanted, all of them, although they had only sent Mar's this time, he knew all too well she was there representing them all.

Lightning streaked across the sky. The beginnings of another storm.

"It's time to go home." The gentle hand she rested on his arm made him flinch. Nothing felt good anymore. He had thought he had lost everything before he lost her, he knew so much better now.

He considered telling the girl by him that he had no home, but no words came, no sound or movement of recognition. His glazed eyes continued to stare at the empty city, the lights flickering on and off, the shell of a world fading into nothing. Because how could there be anything without her. 

He had never even realised how much he depended on her, before they where lovers, before they had even met she had been his hope, before they had met there had always been the chance of finding someone, something that would bring the world back to him, but with her gone he knew there where no chances.

"Please Darien, your worrying us."

He pulled his eyes from the empty world below to face the purple haired scout. He wondered fleetingly how they had all explained the sudden changes in themselves. Not just the physical changes, changes that had gone far deeper. The death of their princess, of their ward, of their friend had scarred all their souls. They where more mature for it, more empty and nothing like the people they deserved to be.

Serena's body had never reverted back to her civilian form, never shifted from that of the princess she had been destined to be. They had been forced to leave the mortal Serena behind, watch the police enquiries into her disappearance, watch her family cling to hopeless hopes that she would one day reappear. And they had been forced to lie and cheat those people she had held closest to her heart, because the secrets where too dangerous to share.

"Come home." She repeated softly her expression earnest, and this time he surrendered. There was no use in arguing with them; there was no use in anything. He turned back to the stairs, pushing back the power in his body, letting mortality touch him once more.

A wisp of a smile came to her lips; a brief moment of false happiness before it all came tumbling back to her. He saw her expression sadden, upset with herself that she had allowed the thought of a smile. Nothing had tempted him to smile over the month. When he had mourned her there had been no one but Luna who knew the extent of his mourning. Her guardians had suspected, or understood as there past lives caught up with them, the importance Serena… Serenity… had in his life.

He took the stairs silently, descending into a building he had no care for. Mars didn't follow him, her task complete knowing he would eventually return 'home'. His shoulders dropped further as he exited the building. It was easier to mourn as a human, easier to mourn when there where hundreds of people around who didn't care for your state of mind. That was something he had learnt as a child.

He avoided the familiar streets, streets that rang with the memory of her. His apartment lay deserted somewhere within the city. He had not the heart to return to where memories where most fresh, nor to destroy the last remnants of her.

Lightning crashed again, and this time the rain came with it, pelting down against him, drenching his clothes. He was closer to smiling at that moment then he had been all month, a bitter smile full of resentful acceptance, but even that smile never made it to his lips.

He made it home after many hours of wondering. Home at least as it had become. Mercury was waiting for him, in human form, curled up on the stairs blue hair tumbling across her face. He touched her gently and she came to the alert instantly.

"Hi." He gave her a weary smile, his gratitude for her care as she stood and brushed off her blue skirt.

"We expected you sooner." She whispered as he walked past her, ascending the wooden stairs.

He had brought a different apartment, away from everything, Luna had been the first to arrive. To keep him company, she had insisted but he knew she was as scared and alone as he had become. They each had depended on her so much. The others had slowly drifted into his home, Lita had come quickly, no mortal binding her. Amy had just showed up one night, her face streaked with tears and had asked if she could join them. Mina had shown up out of the blue with Artimis, no one was sure where they had been before joining them. Rei had taken the longest to break down, to show up at the house, and she hadn't asked nor had she needed to, she had belonged there as they all did.

Together there was some sort of solace they couldn't find anywhere else. And it made the difficult tasks a little easier. That Malachite persisted after the incident, that Beryl had not relented after the loss of one of her generals left them once more fighting nightly. Only now the fights became harder each day, their own wills unequal to the task given to them. He had known very early on when the battles had reigned that he still fought for her, because he knew how much she had valued everything around her, and he refused to allow something of sch great importance to her fade away.

"Andrew came again."

His feet stoped, the very breath in his lung's pausing as he processed the information. Andrew would never cease, and it was like rubbing salt into wounds to terrible to endure. He pushed the feeling of desolation away, he refused to be overwhelmed again today.

"Lita told him she'd beat him if he showed up again. Rei told him much the same." She followed him as he once more began climbing the stairs. "I think you should go to the arcade."

It was a sentence he had heard before so he had learnt the evasion well. "Maybe tomorrow." He uttered without an ounce of feeling, only if life depended on it would he enter that tomb of memories. He had too many memories without digging more up.

"You said that yesterday." She was whispering still. She had gone quieter after the accident, more contemplative and very dangerous in battle.

"I'll probably say it tomorrow as well." He didn't have the energy to lie to them.

"Darien." She caught his arm in a gentle hold, her silence a sign he recognised as she waited to be acknowledged. He looked back at her patiently. "I'm worried about you." She said earnestly, her eyes showing the concern she spoke of.

"You don't have to protect me." He replied slowly drawing from her hold and moving onwards.

Amy's voice came out broken as he walked away. "You're the closest thing we have to her. Without you, we don't have a purpose."

He blinked the tears out before he was aware of them, his chest constricting, wishing he had someone to protect.

Darien watched the image of the glistening crystal with apprehension. It floated above the dais, a silver glow emanating from it core and flooding the air around it. It hurt to see it, because it too had been hers. He tore his gaze from the image to the black cat that watched him, an expression of sympathy on her own face.

"Why am I here?" He gritted it out, his voice horse and his throat tight.

Luna jumped t the bench at his side, her eyes thoughtful. "This is the essence of Serenity. The Silver Imperial Crystal."

"I know that." He chocked out, trying not to look at it, even trying not to look to his loves guardian.

"Endymion," Luna chided "so long as it exists, so to does she."

Hope swelled in him. "But she's dead." He growled, trying to deny the hope that was fluttering to life again. "We buried her."

"You are talking figuratively." Luna interjected. "There was no grave made for Serena Tsukino."

He found himself disturbed by the words, unsure what to make of them. No they hadn't dug her a grave but he had never let himself think about where her body lay. "What are you saying Luna?" He stared at the cat, uncertainly mixed with a twinge of hope, what he hoped for he wasn't sure.

Luna moved across the desk and settled by Central's controls. It had taken Luna's request for him to come here, and he would have denied that to if her expression had not been so earnest. Luna typed something in and another door opened. He turned to look through it and found his princess, lying still, as if sleep itself held her and not death. Automatically he moved to her, unable to resit the pull in his soul. But he knew, from their bond alone, that she was not inside the shell that was her body.

Again he was bombarded with thoughts that had long ailed him. He wanted to shout at her, for allowing such danger close, wanted to scream that she should have told him she was going to battle, so that he could have been there for her. He wanted to cry at her and beg her to come back, but he had done all of it before, and he knew how useless it was. Instead he fell to his knees beside her, reverently taking her hand, unwilling to ruffle the perfect way she lay on the pedestal.

"The healing powers of the crystal have maintained her body, despite the separation. Though do not be deceived by the life she seems to hold, she is not there."

He nodded at Luna's words, barely acknowledging her presence in the room. Tears seeped from his eyes, trickling down his chin and falling to the ground. He had lost track of the tears shed for her since her death.

"Endymion-"

"Give me a minute." He interrupted her before she could continue and settled his check against her hand. The crystal was doing it's job well, her body radiated a warmth that was unreal, trying to trick him into believing her alive. The tear that slithered down to met her delicate fingers where ignored, and once more he let himself wallow in the misery of her loss.

Luna shifted behind him, and he turned tear stained eyes to her.

"Darien, we can get her back." The cat's blunt voice penetrated him as nothing had for so long. He stared at her, that hope that he had fought breaking out of his restraint and thundered through his body like an alarm.

"What?" He gasped the word, unable to believe Luna had said such a thing, unable to believe the certainty that had been in her voice.

"So long as the crystal is alive, she is alive, as is the bond between them. But to get her back, we need the Silver Imperial Crystal." Luna's eyes looked into his, searching and honest. "Have not your dreams been telling you so?" Her question although tentative made him wince. Yes his dreams had told him, that same dream that had haunted him before had returned to claim his sleepless nights. He had refused to listen to them, he had given up hope. A pang of guilt and pain shot through him, he had given up home on her.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" He demanded harshly, angry that he had wasted time when he could have been planning.

"I was unsure. Our memories are taking time to re-establish themselves. I did not want to raise hopes when there was no hope." Luna's expression was pained, but a determination was settled in her eyes. "We can get her back. All we have to do is retrieve the crystal from Beryl."

He smirked at that it was so deceptively simple. Yet it was a so minimal compared to what he was wiling to do to bring her back. Hope made it's way into his heart and made it's home there once more.

"The scouts will follow you. Your objectives are the same. Return Serenity. Bring back Serena."

Bring back Serena. He though about that every day, and now she offered him a way. He stood slowly, settling his loves hand back by her side, then lent down over her placing a soft kiss to her lips.

They would have her back. They couldn't survive without her.

THE END (a)

-------

**Hey Everyone! I'm trying to get my reviews up to a Thousand.... it's so close yet so far away right now. I reckon I can do it, but it needs everyone who's actually read this far to hit that cute little review button down there (this is me pointing down to that left hand corner of your screen that's '-- that way'). So please please please review this story. Lots of time and effort has gone into writing it and I know I'm whining but really how long does it take to put in a review?**

**Kimra Lelanst**

**ALSO!!!**

I've set up two mailing list's. One for my Original works and one for my Sailor Moon Fan Fiction. I will no longer be sending e-mails out to inform of updates except through these lists. So if you want to know, join up (there's a non-filling your mail box with crap guarantee).

To sign up for either of them:  


Go to

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or

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	27. Twenty Five b: Waking

**This is teh second of two epilogues.**

**Meaning I have written two alternative endings to this story.**

**Please read both.**

----------

**"When Dawn Comes"**

By Kimra

**Part XXV (b)**

Soft beeping echoed off silent walls. The scuffle of feet and hushed whispers. Her body pressed down with thick layers of softness. Her hand above the blankets was warm, strange since she could smell the cold in the air.

It came back slowly, flash's of light, shouting that reached inside and tore at her heart. Desperate plea's she could not understand yet alone abide to. Screams of rage and determination dashing against each other and a gentle comforting warmth that held onto her against the odds.

Serena sighed softly at that last memory, relishing that all encompassing warmth, reaching for the feel of it to savour forever. And she realised it was there again, a light wash of it across her body, her hand burning with the feel.

Yearningly her hand convulsed around the warmth's source, feeling soft flesh and warm skin.

A gasp of surprise penetrated her senses, the fingers tightening their hold on her own in response, that warmth drawing nearer to her.

"Serena?" Was whispered at a volume near silence, tentative and caressing.

"Hmmm." She murmured in reply, she would know that voice anywhere.

A ragged breath was drawn near her ear. A quick squeeze of her hand.

"I'll get the doctor." And he shifted away from her. And she clung with every particle of strength her hand had, keeping him in place.

"Stay." She whispered drawing his hand up to her chest and cuddling it like a teddy bear. She wanted nothing else at that moment, then the warmth his presence was feeding her.

Fingers brushed against her forehead, pushing strands of fringe from her closed eyes.

"I have to get the doctor, love."

"No." She demanded twisting to her side, still cuddling his arm and forcing him to follow her movements or forcibly remove her grip. He followed. "Stay, Endy."

Anther ragged breath, the pause between words longer, time only measurable by the steady mechanical beeping that echoed through the room with her heart beat. "Okay Ser." Another uncertain breath came before her gave a quick unobtrusive laugh. "I'm going to need my arm back." His amusement came through his voice and she smiled in response to it. She could tell his upper chest was hovering over her, his right arm caught in her hold, his left causing the bed to sag just behind her shoulders. His feet still on the ground, his weight no resting against the bed.

"No. Lay down with me, I'm cold." She ordered like the petulant young lady she was. He wasn't even shocked but he was amused and his laughter proved it.

"Tempting as that is, your father would kill me."

"I don't have a father."

Another uncertain breath. "Yeah you do Ser, trust me on this." It sounded like the humour one got when they where trying to pretend everything was okay, when it was all going to hell.

"Endy?" She knew the uncertainty was in her voice.

"Darien." He replied, his voice a little strained, she frowned, it sounded like a correction.

"What?" She went to roll over and face him, but he stopped her, both arms holding her still, and he kissed the corner of her eye before his weight settled on the bed behind her, her right arm still trapped in her hold, his left twisted in below her waist to wrap around her and hold her close. "Endyimion?"

Another sharp breath, his chest muscles against her back stiff. Then he relaxed a kiss touching the nap of her neck.

"Don't worry, Serenity. Just sleep."

And enclosed in his warmth she did as he commanded.

She woke up cold, cold all over and realised she was alone.

Her body jolted upwards, things wrenching at her arm, the pain ignored, giant eyes jumping about he unfamiliar room trying to find him.

"Hey. Your awake." Was the gentle female voice that had her eyes jumping to a large chair beside her bed.

Huge violet eyes stared at her in excitement, raven black hair and creamy skin.

She turned from her scrutiny of the girl the moment recognition set in; she was Raye, the Princess and guardian of Mar's, the Sailor Scout of Fire.

Serena searched the rest of the room quickly, her heart rate on overdrive. He had left her, and she'd asked him to stay.

She tried to stand, heard Raye exclaim something and tried to stand. Her arm tugged and she glared at it angrily, finding a varying assortment of devices attached to it.

She started pulling the things off, ignoring the shaking of her hands, ignoring the throbbing through her body or the girl before her who was shouting.

Two slender hands grabbed her firmly and tried to stop her movements. Pain shot through her at the contact, a scream steeling form her.

Raye jumped back eyes wide.

"I'm sorry Serena, just calm down okay! You're in a hospital. You need to lie down!"

And the next moment he was they're looking angrily from her to Raye, eyes stopping on Raye.

"What did you do?" He demanded in a tone very alien to him. Raye raised her hands in self-defence.

"She just jumped up, started ripping the IV's out! I was trying to restrain her!"

His eyes moved back to her and he must have seen the tears escaping her control because he crossed the room quickly, his warmth once more enfolding her. He brushed the tears away gently.

"You weren't here." She whispered in way of apology. She could feel his concern, as real as her own emotions and as readable.

"I'm sorry. I was talking to the doctor down the corridor, not far." He brushed her hair back from her eyes, cupping her face and rested his forehead against her own. "Raye was here, and I wasn't far." His eyes closed as he drew a deep breath in, his thumbs stroking the sides of her head soothingly. "I would leave you Serenity."

She blinked at him and his eyes opened quickly as if aware of her mild confusion. He wet his upper lip, searching her eyes.

"Serena." He whispered and something in her expression must have been right because he was grinning at her, his eyes a dazzling blue that made her smile in response. Although she had no idea why he was so happy she couldn't help but replicate the feeling.

"I'll wait outside." Came a timid whisper from across the room and both turned to see Raye's eyes diverted, bag over shoulder and ready to take flight.

Serena's breath caught and she looked back to Darien. He gave the slightest of nods drawing away from her. Serena smiled and looked to Raye. "Raye, don't go." It could have been an order, but it was a request. "Darien."

He interrupted her. "I have to go finish talking with your doctor." Was all he said before walking past Raye and out of the room.

Raye waited, unmoving, still poised for retreat.

"Come sit with me?" Serena patted the bed next to her. Reluctantly the priestess shifted across the room and took the offered seat, her bag still in her grip, still ready to escape.

Serena watched her friend uncertainly. Small trails of blood trickled down the arm she had almost freed of invading objects, the cotton sheets beneath her where scrunched in places, the afternoon light filtered through the blinds, the machines continued to beep rhythmically. Serena tried to form what she wanted to say but wasn't quite sure what it was.

Raye interrupted her and blurted out a question that seemed to be plaguing her. "Do you love him?"

The sound of Serena's drawn breath echoed through the room, pulling the strings of tension tighter. Serena franticly sought an answer to give her friend.

"We where all so surprised." Raye ploughed on determinedly. "When he showed up at the hospital. Like he belonged, like he had a right." A twist of a smile graced Raye's otherwise blank expression. "Your father looked ready to kill. I guess he didn't think you knew any guys."

Serena sighed her surrender with words and looked earnestly at the friend who avoided her eyes.

"I'm sorry." In the end it was all she could say.

Raye turned her head, doubt written on her features as she scrutinized Serena closely. Raye's fist tightened on her bag, her face turning away once more.

"No your not." It wasn't even an accusation.

Serena closed her eyes against the words, trying to pretend they weren't true. Raye moved, her weight leaving the bed. Serena knew without a doubt how important it was that some redemption was made before her friend left the room. Savagely she made herself meet Raye's challenging words.

"I am sorry." Serena called across the room, gentle enough to reach Raye but not beyond. "Not for my actions." She stated calmly to Raye' unmoving back. "But for hurting you, I am sorry." She was aware then of how exhausted she was. But she watched her friend closely. Raye's body was tense, her body unmoving the breathing too controlled to be calm.

"I'm going to go now." Raye whispered into the air.

Serena swallowed with worry. "I'll see you again?" It seemed important to ask, as if, if the question where not asked the answer would be 'no'.

"I have things to do at the temple. But-" Raye released a tight breath. "But in a day or two. I-I'll visit again then." With that Raye left, Serena's eyes on her back until she was gone from sight.

Serena fell back against her pillows, tired, very tired and without control she drifted back into slumber, only waking briefly when Darien returned to the room and her. Absently she intertwined her fingers with the ones that came to rest on her check before sleep had once more claimed her.

Serena woke to quite talking

"Are they asleep?"

"Shhh" Was the immediate response. "If you keep talking at that volume they wont remain so." Even Serena's half asleep mind recognised not only the voice but also the calm rationality as Amy's.

"They are so cute!" Mina managed in a stage whisper.

"Well Raye certainly didn't think so!" Lita hissed, her voice almost silent.

"Well she's just jealous." Mina pipped at her loudest.

"Guys if you keep this up…" Amy was ignored.

"Of course she's jealous, it's her boyfriend."

"He is not, I bet she just told everyone that."

"Mina!" Amy gasped, her own volume telling them she had forgotten the slumbering people.

"It's true. Look, I respect Raye, really I do! But when it comes to matters of the heart I'm not going to lie! Okay he probably took her on a couple of 'dates'. But I bet he's never even kissed her."

"Who's to say he's kissed Serena?"

"Have you looked at them?" Mina sounded shocked. "If they haven't kissed I'll surrender my title as the 'goddess of love'! Hell his lying on the bed holding her, if they haven't done more then kiss I'll give up my powers!"

"Mina!" Amy gasped in shock.

"This is so weird." Lita muttered. "I thought they hated each other."

There was a silent pause then Amy tentatively whispered. "You know what gets me the most?"

"That Luna hasn't said anything?" Lita suggested. "Yeah that gets me too. She should be screeching at him, trying to claw his eyes out. But I walked in the other night to find her sound asleep on his lap."

"Has he even left since he got here?" Mina asked quickly, a tone of awe in her light voice.

"Not while I've been on guard."

"Nor me." Amy added.

"You'd have to ask Raye to be sure, but I don't think so." Lita paused thoughtfully then continued with an aggravated tone. "Shesh, he hates her one minute, wont leave her side the next."

"Well she'd never been on the brink of death before. Trauma's open our eyes to things we've never been aware of before." Mina sounded almost rational, and Serena cracked a smile at that.

"Andrew visited last Wednesday."

"Yeah?"

"I asked him about it, he had no idea what Darien was doing here. He hadn't even known there was anything wrong until that day."

"Darien didn't tell him?" Amy's shock was obvious.

"More to the point," Lita interjected "who told Darien?"

There was a long pause as the three girls thought over the answer then a muffled yawn filled the air.

"Go to sleep Lita, you've been up for hours and it's my shift." Amy whispered.

And it was the last Serena heard before she had drifted once more into dreamless sleep.

What felt like the first time in a long time Serena's eyes opened and the need to close them again was distant. She let her awareness stretch out around her.

Darien wasn't lying with her as he had been the last time, but she could feel his presence, still so close he had to be in the room with her. She did not turn to check, it was unnecessary.

Thick blankets where piled above her, the air chilly and sterile. People where walking about in what eve room adjoined her own, talking quietly, walking quietly. There was the same continuous mechanical beeping and an unidentifiable crinkling sound. Serena's eyes peeped open, looking towards the noise's source and found Amy settling a page down in her textbook.

Without disturbing her friend Serena looked about the room. The first thought was that the room itself was dull, despite a collection of flowers on the bench across the room. It wasn't as small as it had felt and the door to enter was wide open.

She looked beyond the door to see a doctor walking past clipboard in hand and realisation dawned on her. It was a realisation she knew she should have come to much sooner, but she was too tired to berate herself.

Glancing at her left arm she found it riddled with protruding needles. With a wince she remembered tearing some of them out before, but the bruises on that arm seemed small and perhaps receding.

Darien was asleep on a lounge chair against the wall, only meters away from her and she smiled something inside brightening at the sight of him at peace with the world.

Her eyes travelled back to her reading friend. She tired to struggle into a seated position but found her trembling limbs un-obliging. With surrender she flipped back onto her pillows.

"Amy?" She called softly, she heard the snap of the book as it closed and met the lively blue eyes that had been hidden behind it. "This may sound really weird, but why am I in hospital?" 

Amy was at her side instantly, her book clattering to the floor unnoticed.

"Oh gods, your awake!" There was no mistaking the joy in Amy's voice. "I have to get the others!" Before the girl could bound out the door Serena caught her hand. Amy faced Serena's questioning eyes with puzzlement.

"What happened?" Serena asked again, before releasing the hand and motioning Amy back to her seat.

Amy took the seat graciously, her expression more sombre. "We're not sure what happened. One minute we where fighting, and the next you where glowing. Oh my god Serena! You're the princess! Your princess Serenity."

"I know." Serena smoothed down her blanket thoughtfully her eyes not meeting her friends. She was afraid of her friends reaction not confused about who she was. It was strange the way she accepted the information, like it had always been there and only now was she aware of it. But it held no lingering significance, it was merely who she was.

"None of us had time to think about you being the princess, we had to fight. You where injured during the battle, and we where just so busy fighting that we couldn't stop." Amy's expression became haunted, her eyes unfocused. "Malachite and Zoicite escaped and when I finally turned to check on you, you where gone." Her mouth trembled. "We where frantic. We didn't know what had happened. We thought the enemy had you." She bit down into her lower lip. "Luna called us on the communicator's, I'd never been so relieved to see someone in my life. She said Tuxedo Mask had taken you to the hospital because your injuries had been severe." I hadn't known, I should have known, it's my job to know."

Reassuringly Serena gripped her friends hand, seeing the turmoil in her expression.

Amy gave a weak smile and continued. "We got here as fast as we could." For the first time anger crossed the girls face. "And they wouldn't let us in. They wouldn't talk to us. Wouldn't tell us what was wrong. We had to call your parents. I'd never seen them so worried. I didn't even know how to ask them what was wrong." Amy looked down at her hands, gently flicking at tuffs of lint that clung to her sleaves.

"The… The doctors said you probably wouldn't make it. You surprised them all by making it out of the Operating Room. They'd managed to extract Zoicite's crystal from your chest. But the doctor thought there might be shards still in there when you started fitting and your body fought the sedatives." Tears leaked down the girls face and Serena felt a pang of guilt for having put her friend though such stress.

"I scanned you with the computer, we broke into the Intensive Care ward so I could, and your readings where everywhere, I didn't know what to make of them. They where really weird, Serena." Amy's worried expression quickly shifted to a small frown of confusion which Serena found amusing. "I got Luna to look at them, but by the next day you where fine, as if nothing was wrong, I mean, apart from the obvious. I took a new scan and your healing had kicked up a notch, which was expected because the princess always had exceptional healing skills. You've been slowly getting better ever since."

"Amy?" Lita's head popped into the door, and Serena turned in time to see Lita's eyes widen in surprise. "Serena!" The brunette released a squeal and dashed across the room throwing an awkward hug around the patient.

"Lita!" Amy gasped, but hardly had time to object before Lita had tugged her into the hug as well. The next second Lita was standing tall, her eyes bright with excitement.

"I'll get Mina!" And she dashed out the door at the same speed she had entered.

"How's Raye?" Serena asked, fighting the sleep that had once more snuck up on her. She refused to sleep until she had seen all of her friends.

"She's worried, tired. The same as the rest of us. We forced her to go home this morning. I don't think she was sleeping at all though, even at home I don't think she sleeps. We've all been here every chance we could get. We divided the day up to watch over you, but most the time we're all here anyway." As if to prove the point Lita came rushing back into the room Mina in tow and looking entirely disgruntled. The second her sight rested on Serena she looked as bright and awake as Lita did.

"Serena!" It was the second time her name was squealed in as many minutes and within seconds she was once more enveloped in an enthusiastic hug. "It's been a month you ditz! How dare you stay unconscious for a month!" The hug became tighter, and before Serena could worry about her strength she had been released and settled neatly back into place. "We've been so worried." There where tears in the blondes eyes as she bit into her lip a giant smile on her lips, eyes wide with excitement.

"I'll get the doctor." Amy told them all and silently left the room.

Serena's day didn't last long, slumber beckoning her back long before she was done talking with her friends. But she rolled over and before her eyes had closed she found Darien watching her, a smile on his lips and she could only smile in return before she was once more asleep.

It was a strange silence that overcame her as she stood there, looking in at the destruction she had wrought. She clung to the door frame, her weak legs trembling with overuse.

Two weeks ago she had woken to find Amy in her room, and each day since she had continued to wake. The doctors had been astonished, her family where overjoyed. Over those two weeks, too weak to stand on her own, too awake to sleep, many things had become clearer to her. 

Her past life was now as her present life was, everything that had happened to her, in this life or the previous where now just memories of her life, there where no distinctions any more. And although unlike most she had two childhoods, two mothers, two chances at life, she could not view herself as an oddity. Her friends two had begun to remember their own pasts over those two weeks, as if they had been holding it back so they could worry over her more. Darien, it seemed, was already as settled with the knowledge of his past as she was. Through the links that bound them together she could not feel in Darien the confusion that still lingered within her friends.

"Miss are you okay?" Serena turned her head to face the questioning nurse, and offered her a fleeting smile. The nurse returned the smile and continued on her way. Serena's attention once more turned to the room before her, and the patient within.

Molly had visited the night before, had cried and said things that proved the importance of their friendship. In the presence of her friend Serena had regretted the life that lay before her, but it was a momentary regret that she had overcome when realising it was people like Molly that she fought to protect. The people she loved.

Darien.

A real smile came to her at the thought of him. Endymion. Darien. So strikingly similar, so exactly the same, and hers. When he had fallen, she had known that she was a fool for doubting herself, for doubting the emotions within. She loved him, as she had never loved another and as turbulent as their relationship was nothing could deny the feelings between them. The bond of their past life had reasserted itself, a bond that had never gone only fallen to the background and once more she could feel his emotions, his thoughts as her own.

That was why she was here though, because he was asleep, and this one thing she did not want to share. This was a trial for herself alone.

Taking a breath Serena stepped into the room staring at the boy stretched out on the hospital bed.

When Molly had visited, she had said something that had reminded Serena she had something left undone. Molly had reminded her that she was not the only student from their school in this hospital.

"Justin." Was it a greeting? She wasn't sure, there was a bite in her voice she didn't try and conceal, he could not resent her for it, and even if he did, she did not care. She stepped closer to his bed, leaving a large distance between them still. Pinned into his arm where a number of machines that exceeded even the many she had been monitored with. The machines beeped and hummed with life, the only noise in the room.

She didn't know what to say, what should be said. With her memories of that night returned she didn't know if she had even pity for him. Whatever drug he had fed her was the very cause of his present state. She had defended herself when attacked, and her mind to hazy to understand had forced her to rely on instincts. If she had been normal, if she had not held powers, he would have raped her that night.

She had no pity for him.

She stepped up beside his bed, looking down at the injuries that had no yet healed over time, scars that would not heal. Knowing she had caused them all. She clenched her hand, her large eyes fixed on him as she considered fate.

She knew she had the power to heal the boy before her. As the Princess of the Silver Millennium, wielder of the Silver Imperial Crystal she understood the capability of her powers. But unconscious and coma ridden he still received no sympathy from her.

Feeling empty with that knowledge Serena turned from him, and walked away. She was the Champion of Love and Justice, and this once, she understood how dangerous justice could be.

Darien waited for her in the corridor, his expression solemn, and she easily folded into his arms, accepting his support. She had left him asleep with a promise of return and a gentle kiss, knowing he would not sleep long without her near and was glad he had come to her.

His arms tightened their hold, his presence reassuring her. "I wish I could protect you from it all." He whispered in a distant voice.

"He taught me something I wish I hadn't learnt." She whispered into his chest, hiding the tears that where trickling down her checks. "Not everyone is worth saving." He held her closer, as if he already knew it, allowing her to cry over a piece of innocence lost.

When she stopped crying she smiled up at him, accepting the kiss offered. Her grip about him loosened though she did not let him go, and together they returned to her room where her guardians waited smiles on all their faces. She smiled at the sight of them. Maybe not everyone was worth saving, but there where those that where.

THE END (b)

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**Kimra looks up at the number of reviews... looks at the readers... looks back to the reviews... "I know we can do better then that." she mutters before stomping off to write some more story's.**

**Merry Christmas to all those people who where kind and nice and supported me through this (yes that's the people who reviewed... and okay, the people who showed up on the counter who didn't review as well... I know your out there!). So Merry Christmas... or Happy Holidays what ever you celebrate over them... be it a break in school... a couple days of work or just the up and coming New Year's (and anything else I can't think of)**

**Kimra Lelanst**

**ALSO!!!**

I've set up two mailing list's. One for my Original works and one for my Sailor Moon Fan Fiction. I will no longer be sending e-mails out to inform of updates except through these lists. So if you want to know, join up (there's a non-filling your mail box with crap guarantee).

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	28. My Final Note

My Final Note:  
  
I considered not writing an Author's note, but I think it's the Authors right to put a ramble at the end of every story. As it's the readers right not to read it.  
  
I thought I'd answer the most important request/question put to me. That being the prospect of a sequel. And with all the frankness that is my nature, quite honestly I will NOT be writing a sequel. I enjoyed writing this story at times, I hated writing it at other times and the story is finished no matter how open ended any of it was the story is complete.  
  
I would like to thank the people who braved my poor gramma, my atrocious spelling, and the numerous typos to read this story. I would like to times that thanks by about a hundred for those who reviewed it because it's the reviews that show someone is paying attention and I often need that reassurance.  
  
That was really all I had to say.  
  
Please feel free to look at any of my other story's, Sailor Moon wise or just my original ones (hey I had to throw in some self advertising) which are all reachable through my profile.  
  
Thanks again.  
  
Kimra Lelanst 


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